With the announcement that Michael Kay may be returning to the booth sooner than expected, YES is running out of time to make a big, headline-grabbing splash in his absence. The network remedied that yesterday by announcing that Bob Costas will be on the call of one of this Saturday’s games in the doubleheader between the Yankees and Red Sox.
Costas and YES President of Programming and Production, John Filippelli, have been trying to work out the details of Costas calling a game for the network for some time according to Andrew Marchand of The New York Post. The Saturday meeting with the Red Sox was the only one that fit Costar’s schedule with him in town the previous night to call the game for MLB Network. On Saturday, Costas will work with Paul O’Neill and David Cone.
The one date engagement was born out of a relationship that dates back thirty years. Filippelli and Costas worked together at NBC on the Baseball Game of The Week and NFL Today.
If he feels up to it, Michael Kay will return for the second game of the doubleheader. If not, Ryan Ruocco, who has been filling in for Kay since he left to have his vocal chords repaired, would take over.
“This is like an innings limit to me,” Filippelli said of Kay. “We need to manage this, as does ESPN Radio. Michael’s health is our top priority.”
Kay sent a text to Marchand this week saying that he has a follow up appointment this week to determine his progress in recovery. If he gets the green light, he could be back on Yankees games as early as Friday.
