Michael Kay goes scorched earth on caller

It hasn’t exactly been a banner past couple of weeks for Michael Kay.

The New York Yankees play-by-play voice for YES Network has found himself in the headlines quite a bit. He was irate when SNY touted itself as the best booth in baseball during his radio show on ESPN New York. And that anger didn’t subside when a caller accused him of being a shill for the Yankees . Just in the past few days, he was roasted for complaining about Jose Siri’s home run celebration.

And all the while, the Yankees have stumbled since a 40-19 start to the season. Since June 1, the Bronx Bombers have played four games under .500, including a 20-24 record in their past 44 games. The Yankees came into Wednesday with a 60-43 record, 1.5 games out of first place in the American League East.

But their fans have Philadelphia Eagles syndrome, where there are full-blown meltdowns after every loss despite their record being what it is. Social media only amplifies this, making it seem like the Yankees are a cellar-dweller rather than a team comfortably 17 games above .500.

While their playoff prospects could be shaky without significant improvements at the trade deadline, the current level of fan panic has made for entertaining sports radio, to say the least. And that’s bled into The Michael Kay Show , as the Yankees announcer has become sort of an unwilling participant in the circus surrounding his team.

A caller named Paul in Trenton went off the rails, complaining that the Yankees didn’t put Oswaldo Cabrera in the lineup against a left-handed pitcher in Jose Quintana on Tuesday despite the 25-year-old infielder being a switch hitter. To Kay’s point, Cabrera isn’t as good from the right side of the plate. In 47 at-bats as an RHH vs. an LHP, he’s slashing .192/.255/.255 with a .510 OPS, which, in other words, is absolutely abysmal.

But Paul in Trenton doesn’t care.

“Do you realize what you just said? Wait a minute, you just said you don’t care if he’s not good?” asked Kay. “You just said that…He’s not a good right-handed hitter. He’s been batting left-handed against left-handed pitching. It’s not working.”

Neither was this phone call with Paul, who was irate that Ben Rice wasn’t in Tuesday’s lineup. Kay countered that the rookie first baseman is 4 for his last 40 after going 1-for-16 in the team’s most recent series against the Tampa Bay Rays and that he’s also played every single day since being called up to the big leagues.

Kay proceeded to put his hand on his head, clearly frustrated by the points — or lack thereof — that Paul was making. After the caller said he agreed with hitting Juan Soto and Aaron Judge third and fourth, respectively, Kay’s head shot up, he immediately questioned Paul and took off his glasses, as he grew confounded by Tuesday afternoon’s edition of your typical New York Sports Radio caller.

That’s when Kay went off on Paul for suggesting that Judge shouldn’t hit third despite having 89 RBIs in that spot this season.

“Oh, so that’s what you think, so it doesn’t matter if he bats cleanup or if he bats eighth, you think that he doesn’t get important hits,” Kay said, as his anger began to bubble. “Why can’t he win a game batting third? It doesn’t matter, so if they hit Soto third and Judge fourth, you’re just moving them down two spots. And Soto might come up with two outs and nobody on in the first inning, and Judge might not even get an at-bat.

“What are you talking about?!? What does it matter? Tell me why! Tell me why! Paul, tell me why it matters! Why? Why does it matter?… But they only have two hitters out of nine. What does it matter if you’re batting them seventh or eighth or third and fourth or second and third? Why does it matter moving them to third and fourth? I need to have an answer!”

It matters to Paul because he thinks the Yankees would be better equipped with Soto third and Judge fourth, and then they could sign someone who gets on base. It’s late July. Who are the Yankees signing to get on base at this current juncture? Who are they going to trade for that’s not going to cost a ton of resources?

“Let’s stop there, Paul,” said Kay. “Who can find? Where are you getting that player? Are you going to Walmart and going to aile 3? Who’s the guy getting on base?”

Kay chose the phone a friend option, as he had his head in his hands and begged his co-host Don La Greca to help him out.

“I get it, but then when you ask them questions they say, ‘Well, get somebody on base that’ll get in front of them,'” added Kay. “I want to know who. They don’t have an answer! They don’t have an answer. It’s not Rickey Henderson sitting in the clubhouse. Anthony Volpe was the perfect leadoff hitter when he was hitting .290, and it’s gone downhill since then. Ben Rice was doing great leading off, now he’s 4-for-44.

“Now they’re trying out Jahmai Jones. They don’t have a great roster right now.”

[ The Michael Kay Show ]

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