Dreams do come true, just ask Yankees TV announcer Michael Kay. He grew up ten minutes from Yankee Stadium. He was a huge Yankees fan, so much so, that in Little League he’d wear number 1 for his favorite player, Bobby Murcer. Once he realized that a career as the Yankees’ first baseman wasn’t going to materialize, the dream turned to becoming a broadcaster for the team. To get there, Kay did all the school reports he could about the Yankees, so he could know all about them. Now many years later it’s his job to know all he can about the team.
Kay attended Fordham University and worked for the radio station WFUV, thinking it was the best place for him to pursue the dream. He was there with another guy that dreamed of a play-by-play career, Mike Breen, the voice of the NBA on ABC/ESPN.
In 1992, the lifelong ambition became a reality as he joined John Sterling in the Yankees radio booth. He would spend a decade on radio, then transition to television with the advent of the YES Network. He became the main play-by-play guy for the network in 2002. So now, Kay is in his 30th year with the team as a broadcaster.
ROAD TO YANKEES BOOTH
Kay started his professional career with the New York Post in 1982 as a general assignment writer. He had sports assignments from college basketball and the NBA, covering the New Jersey Nets. Kay worked himself up at the paper and received the Yankees’ beat writing assignment in 1987.
In 1989, Kay left the Post for the Daily News, still covering the Yankees as his primary beat. Kay also served as the Madison Square Garden Network Yankee reporter starting in 1989.
Kay left the Daily News to host a sports talk show on WABC in 1992, briefly returning to write “Kay’s Korner” for the Daily News in 1993, before taking the microphone job for radio broadcasts of New York Yankee games beside John Sterling.
BUSY GUY
Kay manages to find time to do many things, aside from calling Yankees games. He hosts The Michael Kay Show weekdays from 2-6:30pm on ESPN Radio 98.7 FM and simulcast on the YES Network. The show started in 2002, the same year he started as the voice of the Yankees on TV.
The show is now co-hosted by Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg. Kay and La Greca have been paired on ESPN New York since 2002, with the duo working to build a successful sports radio show in a tough market over the course of two decades. Rosenberg, the show’s third voice, joined in 2015.
In March TMKS moved up an hour to give Kay more time with the New York audience. But that means an extra hour away from preparing for that night’s Yankees game. Kay will look through his Yankees notes and other things to get ready for the game, during long commercial blocks on his radio show. If there is a game to call, Kay will leave the radio show anywhere from 5:45 to 6pm, with co-hosts La Greca and Rosenberg left to close out the show.
He’s also the host of CenterStage on the YES Network. He interviews some of the biggest names in sports, entertainment and politics for the last two decades. Kay has even collected some of his favorite moments from on and off camera into a book “CenterStage: My Most Fascinating Interviews – From A-Rod to Jay-Z.”
I’m not entirely sure how Kay manages this schedule. I know that the first time I was asked to host an hour-long pregame show before a game broadcast, the feeling in my stomach was not good. How could I do this show and get ready for a game that night? It meant getting to the ballpark earlier, using time between segments wisely and then getting some good exercise. I’d have to maneuver through the crowd from the home studio down the left field line, to the broadcast booth behind home plate. Stressful.
My point is, for Kay to be able to call a Yankees game, after having been on the air already for 3-4 hours is something to marvel at. I’m sure he would tell you that a lot of the prep work comes from some of the topics on his show. He’s likely already up on the latest information regarding the Yankees and he’s pretty versed by then about what is happening elsewhere in the world of sports. Still, I admire his ability to be as busy as he is and still be sharp on his play-by-play.
WHAT MAKES HIM SO GOOD
There is a conversational style by Kay that sets him apart from others. He doesn’t have that “typical” broadcasting voice, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. He seems to speak to Yankees fans as a Yankees fan. Make sense? I mean he’s rooting for the team and he’s not pleased when they aren’t doing well. You can tune into a Yankees telecast and before you even see the score, you can tell by his tone, who’s winning and who’s not. Kay is a true hometown broadcaster and people in New York crave that. He’s happy when the viewer is obviously happy, and not when they aren’t.
Having a highly rated sports talk show helps with that delivery. Hosts are supposed to have that conversational, passionate and easy to listen to style. You talk with your audience as opposed to talking “at” them. Sports talk hosts want to build that relationship with an audience, making them feel like the host is one of them so to speak. This holds true with a baseball announcer trying to develop that same relationship. Kay truly is one of them and while his style may not work for others, it definitely works for him.
Kay is a throwback of sorts as well. There aren’t too many true “homers” left in booths across the country. Yes, broadcasters of local teams, scream and yell more when their team is doing well, but if their local 9 isn’t playing well, choosing the right words can be challenging. Not too many announcers have free reign to criticize their own club. Gone are the days of Harry Caray and Marty Brennaman who would frequently call out their own team and its players for a variety of things. Both had built up so much equity with the teams and fan base they were free to do and say what they wanted.
Kay isn’t afraid to call it like he sees it, even if that means blasting the Yankees, an individual player or the opposing team. He sees it as being honest with the viewer/listener. As he told the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast, Kay doesn’t think there is anybody more critical of the team they broadcast than he is and he credits the Yankees for allowing him to do that.
“The reason I can do it is that the Yankees never say a word because they realize the value of honesty. If you are going to tell people the food stinks, then they are going to believe you when they tell you the food is great. There are so many people around the country that are blowing smoke constantly and I guess that’s what the fanbase wants. I don’t think that would play in New York. I think honesty plays in New York.”
CRITICIZING AND BEING CRITICIZED
In his 30-year career, Kay has done his share of criticizing. In April he went off on the Yankees for using an “opener”, Nick Nelson, in a critical game against the Rays.
“You’re the best-looking guy at the party. Don’t try to be the smartest. Why couldn’t they start Michael King? Why were they getting cute by starting Nick Nelson, who gave up two runs and they never looked back? Why? Why were you doing that? In your organization, you don’t have another starter? It’s almost the same thing as what you did in the Division Series. You started Deivi Garcia and brought in J.A. Happ. Don’t try to outsmart the Rays!”
So, when you criticize you open yourself up for it to come back to you. He’s had back-and-forth run-ins with players on his own team, like Clint Frazier. Most recently as a result of commentary on his talk show, he’s gone toe-to-toe with Mets’ pitcher Marcus Stroman.
The funny thing is Kay claims he has thin skin. Again, speaking on the “Sports Media with Richard Deitsch” podcast he admitted to such. His inclination is to fight back, but sometimes it’s not the best way to go about it.
“People that criticize people do not like to be criticized. My skin is so thin, it is translucent. If I mess up a call and you say wow, Michael messed up a call. Bring it, I deserve it. When you say stuff just the way I do stuff or something that rubs you the wrong way, it bothers me. I don’t understand the meanness of it.” Kay told the podcast.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS/CALLS
Working for an organization like the Yankees lends itself to a broadcaster having some memorable calls. This is true in the case of Kay, who got to watch Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Tino Martinez, Mark Teixeira, Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Aaron Judge and even Alex Rodriguez play many baseball games. One of Kay’s most memorable came in 2011.
Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit came on a home run, July 9, 2011:
“The 3-2, that one’s drilled to deep left field, going back Joyce, looking up, See ya! 3000! History with an exclamation point! Oh, what a way to join the 3000-hit club! Derek Jeter has done it, in grand style!”
If you’ve ever wondered, where his home run call, “see ya!” came from, well in 2018 he joined the Dan Patrick Show and explained the origin:
“I got this job 27 years ago, and at the time I was dating a young lady who, when she would get out of the car at the end of a date, she would say ‘see ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!’ And I said, ‘you know, I’m going to hijack that as my home-run call. So, I’ve been doing it since the very beginning of when I got the job in 1992.”
CONCLUSION
Kay is a multimedia superstar in New York and just keeps on going. His uniqueness is in his ability to juggle a top-rated talk show and call games for one of the iconic franchises in sports history is amazing to me. To actually be able to do BOTH jobs at such a high level sets him apart. Kay has carved out his own style and it works for both him and Yankees fans alike.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
There is nothing down the middle about Michael Kay. If there were, he wouldn’t have to insist on his impartiality as if he were running for office. He is completely biased toward the Yankees, he answers every criticism of the Yankees by explaining what they were trying to do, as if he is the only person who has ever understood baseball, which he does not. If you discuss Brian Cashman or Aaron Boone, “I like Brian” or “I like Aaron.” He has called out critics of the Yankees for being disrespectful. Ridiculous. He is a living, breathing, public relations billboard for the Yankees. He has an excuse for everything. He beat Francesa 1 time in 100 years, and he celebrated forever. Carton beats him, and he can’t go low, and ESPN Radio is not a destination. He goes plenty low. He is the biggest joke on the airwaves. Oh, and by the way, I am a Yankee fan…