This week’s Yankees-Mets series has elicited the usual trash talk from partisans on both sides of New York’s interleague rivalry — even from a broadcaster.
New York Yankees play-by-play man Michael Kay took issue Wednesday with a promotional spot for SNY, the Mets’ flagship station, that ran on the Yankees’ YES Network. Speaking on The Michael Kay Show on WEPN-FM in New York, Kay called out a commercial for claiming the Mets’ broadcast team is “the best booth in baseball.”
“Enjoy the Subway Series with the best booth in baseball,” he said, quoting the ad script. “I mean, do you expect me to just take that lying down? I think our booth is the best booth in baseball.”
When his co-hosts pushed back, Kay decided he wasn’t done.
“I’m supposed to sit there and take it lying down?” he asked rhetorically. “I’ll take (Paul) O’Neill, (David) Cone and me over Gar (Gary Cohen), Ron (Darling) and Keith (Hernandez). They’re great, but so is our booth. … I’m sorry, I think we’re the best booth in baseball.”
Awful Announcing posted the full clip to its Twitter/X account:
At the root of Kay’s sudden sensitivity is an obvious nugget of truth: it’s odd that an advertisement for a rival sports broadcast team would air on the YES Network at all. At least the circumstances of the Subway Series explain the timing of the ad buy.
But the substance of the commercial shouldn’t be considered anything unusual. SNY isn’t going to place an ad anywhere — let alone on YES — claiming it has the number-two broadcast team in New York City.
New York Yankees/Getty Images
The responses on social media to the Awful Announcing post were predictable, with many calling out Kay’s sensitivity to what amounted to a very ordinary ad. But the real issue is the logical fallacy created by Kay’s words: “Sitting there and taking it lying down” and “talking about it in public” are two different things.
If Kay had any real issue with the ad, he could simply deal with it in private. He’s worked in sports broadcasting in New York for parts of five decades. As much as anyone, Kay could place a call to any of the city’s sports media power brokers and expect a prompt response. Perhaps he did.
But by stirring the pot on his talk show, Kay invited unnecessary criticism. He seemed to acknowledge as much by beginning his remarks with “What I’m going to say right now might get me into some trouble.”
There were better uses for Kay’s platform Wednesday, but perhaps it was worth the trouble to him.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.