Kay calls Yanks' play 'disgraceful' and 'embarrassment'
Holy Horace Clarke!
You might have missed it because you were watching Broncos-Raiders or sleeping, but . . .
The Yankees have become such a basket case that YES play-by-play man Michael Kay flipped over to radio talk show host mode Monday night and let the Bronx Bombers have it in the bottom of the seventh inning of a blowout loss to the Angels.
Click below for what he said.
Kay: "You know, we know everything that's gone on with the Yankees this year. We know the injury to Chien-Ming Wang was a devastating injury. Obviously, the injury to Jorge Posada as well. They've had disappointments with the young pitchers they were depending on. But you still look at the players on the field and the way they're playing now is disgraceful and an embarrassment.
"You can't go into Seattle when you still have a modicum of a chance to get a pennant slot and lose two out of three to the worst team in the American League, and then come in here and get embarrassed 11-1 in the seventh inning. At some point somebody has to be held accountable . . . This is a team that should be better than the way they're playing and there has to be answers to this and the questions have to be asked as well."
Ken Singleton: "I think players and coaches have to look in the mirror: What can I do to make this situation better? Nobody likes to go out on the field and embarrass themselves in front of 40, 50,000 people. I know I didn't. The situation is that as a team this is just not happening. I don't know if they're just not on the same page, but in tonight's game, this is something we never, ever used to see."
Kay: "Nope. And the one thing I've said about this team all year is that it has a glass jaw, and the moment Wood hit the home run to make it 2-1, they didn't work counts, they were down 2-1 and they didn't do what they're supposed to do to win."
John Flaherty: "I think offensively, Michael, the lineup has to take some heat for this. Obviously you give up 11 runs, most in the sixth and seventh inning. But offensively the Yankees just have not put pressure on teams. They've not had good at-bats, grind out at-bats like they used to."
Kay: "What we've seen, and it's a little bit of a telltale sign, I mean, there were years that went by that the Yankees never played a game under three hours. If they did it stood out. Now they come in at 2:30, 2:22. That's a team that's not working the count."
Singleton: "Look at the walk totals. It used to be always in the top three in the league in walks if not leading the league in walks. That is not the case this year."
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Comments (16)
I love it when people channel Ray Kroc. At least Kay didn't say it on opening day.
Kay should be thrilled that Yankee games are so short - he always whined at the end of broadcasts that a game would go "an interminable 3 hours and 10 minutes" or "an unmanageable 3:20".
""You can't go into Seattle when you still have a modicum of a chance to get a pennant slot and lose two out of three to the worst team in the American League, and then come in here and get embarrassed 11-1 in the seventh inning."
And Joe G. gets a vote of confidence yesterday from the mouth? This team has quit and he has let it do so.
I suppose Michael's burst of frustration might make for an awkward Sunday conversation on YES with his friend, Joe. I have definitely noticed how frustrated (and angry) most of the beat writers and broadcastors are with the team. Those paid to chronicle the Yankees for the last 12 years have enjoyed the magic carpet ride almost as much as the players, I'm sure...and now they are immersed in mediocrity...it seems personal.
The beat writers with blogs have become snarkier (one of the best, Pete Abe, in particular). They play to the fans who want their overpaid and underperforming team run out of town. I'd say that MK has been pushed a bit, too and must not fear a backlash from the sons of Steinbrenner. Eh, I'll still watch. I would listen, but Mr. Sterling's despondency is contagious.
Thats a good job outta Kay
Michael Kay is the best baseball play by play guy in new york
I can't disagree with anything Kay said. Who could? Injuries are a poor excuse. This team is pathetic defensively, overrated offensively and has, for the most part, mediocre pitching.
I'm willing to cut Girardi some slack but Cashman has to bear the brunt of the criticism for putting this team on the field. Where is all this great young talent that he's been bragging about? Hughes looks to be injury prone, Kennedy nothing more than a back of the rotation starter, Melky a 4th OFer and Cano a moody, poor fielding and underperfoming 2B. He somehow also saw more in Shelly Duncan than he had reason to and sees something positive in Brett Gardner who looks like a displaced little leaguer.
Other highly touted pitchers such as Horne, White and Marquez regressed and he wound up trading the previously untouchable Tabata. He blew this year's amateur draft by his failure to sign Cole and by wasting a high pick on Bleich, yet another Karstens, Rasner, Kennedy type.
In spite of what Cashman might have us believe, the system is a mess. The AAA team has almost nothing in the way of major league talent. Hughes has the ability but can he stay healthy and exhibit the command he's been so highly touted for? Melancon is the next best thing they have on the horizon. None of the hitters are of major league caliber including Eric Duncan and Juan Miranda who are barely good enough for AAA.
Austin Jackson is probably the CF of the future but his numbers don't exactly jump out at you and the rest of the AA team consists of a bunch of bench/role players and some possibles for the bullpen.
You prpbably have to dig down to Charleston and Staten Island to find any "real" talent and those guys are all about 3 years away from Yankee Stadium.
So...we are likely back to free agency and the way things have always been. Compare our GM to Theo Epstein who has brought in players like Youkilis, Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lowrie, Lester, Papelbon and has a deeper and more major league ready minor league system and how does Cashman look now?
I say, let him walk. Let's find a real assessor of talent. Even Cashman is pointing the finger of blame at himself. Who are we to point it elsewhere?
Lol I think you meant the worst not the best. I though the comment that the games being finished under 3 hours is a reflection of not working the count. You can score alot and if you get top line pitching in that game it could still not end up being an intermablely long game. The Mets scored 9 runs for Pelfrey a couple weeks ago and he pitched so wonderfully and breezed so quickly through the lineup that the game ended in a shade over 2 hours.
Why was Mike talking about his kids at beginning of show Tuesday. I heard in background but could not listen. Thanks
I am not quite sure anybody with the handle LOL can really be taken all that seriously.
Kay is not the worst though. Ma & Pa Pinstripes on the other hand... bleh!
Kay is not married and has no kids. Maybe he was talking about his niece or nephew?
Francesa was talking about one of his kids starting school and he will not be home all day anymore like he was all his young life.
The reason why God gave us two ears is so we can listen to Michael Kay with one and John Sterling with the other. New York Yankee broadcasters: simply the best.
Perhaps the Steinbrenners put him up to it as their way of ripping their guys.
gary cohen = egg head
cohen starts screeching like a woman everytime the mets hit a home run i cant take it.
It's remarkable how Yankee fans slam Mets announcers when the Yankees are not playing well. My best friend is a Yankee fan and he cannot stand Michael Kay and his condescending style. He much prefers Gary Cohen and has often commented on how he wishes he were a Yankee announcer. Secondly, my father in law has been a Yankee fan since the days of DiMaggio, he detests John Sterling and hi "It is high..." loviating. In fact, while driving from NJ last week to home in Saratoga Springs, he was listening to Sterling and Waldman not give any score for the whole inning, he switched his radio dial to the Red Sox station and vowed never again to listen to these idiots. How a class organization like the Yankees can continue to employ this man (Sterling) is beyond logic. If they were trapped in a car and had to listen to him, they would also change the dial.
His call on Damon's HR in Detroit on Labor day...
"There's a base hit down the line.... AND IT WENT OVER THE WALL!"
Giambi up with the bases loaded in the Sunday game at Baltimore...
"That ball is high, it is far..."
All the while I'm yelling SAC FLY! SAC FLY!
"...and it's caught on the warning track!"