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Monday, April 28, 2008

My Pinstripes: Michael Kay, Yea or Nay?

A nice piece of hitting by Mantlemurcer! (Vote Early, Vote Coffin!)

Repetitiveness

Kay definitely has a penchant for repeating himself. We don’t mean the kind of repeating that Tim McCarver does, where he’s still dissecting a play from three innings ago. We’re referring to his constant mentioning of certain things. Some examples:

The size of Kevin Mench’s head; Every time the Yankees play the team Mench is on, Kay goes on about how large Mench’s melon is. Okay, we get it. It’s a throwback to the ‘70s when Frank Messer couldn’t stop talking about how Carlos May had half his thumb blown off.

The repeat use of phrases, especially corny ones. “He’s like the girl with the curl. He’s either very good or very bad.”

The “Martini Glass” defense to describe the shift when Jason Giambi comes up.

Asinine gimmickry -“QuanGorMo" to describe the Yankees 7th thru 9th inning relievers, or is overly obnoxious and loathed, “Generation Trey” to lump Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy together. What makes that one worse is David Cone has picked it up. On the bright side, no one else has.

Repoz Posted: April 28, 2008 at 04:40 PM | 24 comment(s)
Related News: General, NY Yankees, Media, Announcers, Television

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1. radioman Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:19 PM (#2761733)

Nothing is more annoying to me than Michael Kay's continued misuse of the word ironic- He does it all the time. Actually, I hate him for many reasons, but this one just sticks in my craw.

2. Charter Member of the Jesus Melendez Fanclub Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:24 PM (#2761741)

NAY

3. FSC23 Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:24 PM (#2761742)

I would have to say NAY!!!.

He's the master of the obvious. I couldn't agree more how he beats a dead horse.
When he voices his opinion, he rams it down your throat.

Really annoying to listen to him do Yankee games.

4. Charter Member of the Jesus Melendez Fanclub Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:26 PM (#2761743)

his work on Centerstage, which we feel he does very well

FALSE. He is a terrible interviewer.

I know he has dead babies buried in his basement, or something similarly shocking.

5. SugarBear Blanks Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:30 PM (#2761749)

He thinks he's really good and is, in fact, really bad.

Yet, in the face of this fundamental dichotomy, he persists in talking way, way, way too much.

6. Mike Hampton's #1 Fan Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:34 PM (#2761752)

Nay.

7. rsmith51 Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:38 PM (#2761761)

While I think Michael Kay is pretty bad, it is still better than listening to some team's announcers sound like freakin' fans in the booth.

Yes, it is real professional to continue to complain about a strike call 2 innings after it happened. Or cheering on players during the game.

8. Random Transaction Generator Posted: April 28, 2008 at 05:43 PM (#2761763)

it is still better than listening to some team's announcers sound like freakin' fans in the booth.

Is it the White Sox TV guys who do the "Put it on the board....YES!" when one of Sox hits a home run?
When I catch sports highlights, that's the one that annoys me the most.

9. rsmith51 Posted: April 28, 2008 at 06:02 PM (#2761777)

Yes, ChiSox announcers are quite bad. And the "He gone", when someone strikes out. Admittedly funny when he does it on the 2nd strike.

10. ekogan Posted: April 28, 2008 at 06:05 PM (#2761780)

No matter how annoying his mannerisms, Kay is twice as good as NESN announcers. And I speak as a Red Sox fan

11. Rich Posted: April 28, 2008 at 06:21 PM (#2761789)

Kay was tolerable when he did Yankee games on the radio with Sterling. Separately, they are beyond awful.

12. Fat Al Posted: April 28, 2008 at 06:24 PM (#2761791)

Kay was tolerable when he did Yankee games on the radio with Sterling. Separately, they are beyond awful.

Agreed. It's sort of amazing to me from where I sit today to think that that was so. But it was. Waldling on radio and Kay on tv is the worst of all worlds. Yankee fans, I highly recommend listening to the other teams' radio feed on MLB radio rather than the WCBS feed. Usually far less grating.

13. Dig!!! JMM Dig!!! Posted: April 28, 2008 at 06:24 PM (#2761792)

I couldn't agree more how he beats a dead horse.

Michael Kay is also the one who killed the now-dead horse he's beating. And probably raping.

14. Dr Love Posted: April 28, 2008 at 06:29 PM (#2761795)

I don't like Kay, but I don't think he's that bad. However I can't think of a single thing he does that I don't think is bad. So I guess he really is that bad.

15. jim in providence Posted: April 28, 2008 at 07:07 PM (#2761809)

No matter how annoying his mannerisms, Kay is twice as good as NESN announcers. And I speak as a Red Sox fan

What?! You don't enjoy the elaborate discussions of Wally the Green Monster? Don Orsillo's voice is so ... soothing. At least Remy, God bless him, does comment interestingly on infield defense.

If NESN has you down, there's always WEEI. Dave O'Brien is actually good. (Just don't listen to anything else).

16. KronicFatigue Posted: April 28, 2008 at 07:24 PM (#2761827)

Exaggeration - You have to keep things interesting during a broadcast, but Kay overplays many plays. The grounder in the hole at shortstop is a routine play. It shouldn't sound like Brooks Robinson just dove into foul territory, got up, and threw a runner out.

But it's Jeter!!!!!

17. Rough Carrigan Posted: April 28, 2008 at 07:26 PM (#2761828)

Nah. Kay's worse than either Remy or Orsillo. And I'm not a big fan of either.

Though, to give the man his due, I've seen him a couple times on that ESPN Sports Reporters show and was shocked at how sensible and glib he was.

18. willcarrollsux Posted: April 28, 2008 at 07:26 PM (#2761830)

The ironic thing is that it's the third inning.

19. Bruce Markusen Posted: April 28, 2008 at 08:21 PM (#2761846)

Kay used to be very good as a member of the media--first as a Yankee beat writer for the Daily News and then as the postgame interviewer for MSG (in the days before the YES Network). He was good at breaking stories, bringing the latest trade rumors, and reporting quickly and accurately on injuries. And then he was promoted to play-by-play, first on radio and then on TV, which is simply not his strength.

20. The Yankee Clapper Posted: April 29, 2008 at 12:34 PM (#2762411)

I don't find Kay to be a problem, although he's not in the class of Mel Allen or Red Barber, but I'm fairly tolerant. A broadcast has to be pretty bad before it affects my perception of the game. Hawk Harrelson is the only announcer that comes to mind as being regularly grating, but there have been some games where even he was OK for a few innings. My theory is many fans are more tolerant of their home team announcers, not just because of home team bias, but because familiarity allows those announcers to become part of the rhythm of the game.

21. The Essex Snead Posted: April 29, 2008 at 12:36 PM (#2762414)

My theory is many fans are more tolerant of their home team announcers, not just because of home team bias, but because familiarity allows those announcers to become part of the rhythm of the game.

I believe that's called Stockholm Syndrome.

22. Cowboy Popup Posted: April 29, 2008 at 12:38 PM (#2762419)

I don't like Kay, but I don't think he's that bad. However I can't think of a single thing he does that I don't think is bad. So I guess he really is that bad.

That's the thing, he's never horribly bad at one thing, he's just all around bad at everything. He's like the bizarro Utley of announcing, he's consistently bad at everything to the point that you hardly even notice that all of his bad put together makes him one of, if not the worst in the game today.

23. Slice Posted: April 29, 2008 at 02:00 PM (#2762568)

I don't like Kay, but he's not annoying and the color guys are quite good. Anything to spare me Waldman/Sterling. Was driving and listening to the Yanks/Tribe on Friday (our rule of thumb - driver picks radio stations). Sterling spent about 3 innings describing how perfect the Jake (now know as insert corporate name) is and how terrible Municipal Stadium was. Waldman joined in as they discussed the downtown development with occasionally commenting on the ballgame (Phil Rizzuto paid more attention to the game in process). My wife, who was half sleeping through this, finally commented "enough with the stadium". When I told her the stadium was 10 + years old she popped in an Andrea Boccelli CD, in fact he could probably do a better job announcing. Compared to these two, Kay is Vince Scully on a national game.

24. Yankee 49 Posted: June 11, 2008 at 03:11 AM (#2815103)

The first and most important job of a play-by-play man is to give the listeners basic information, such as who is up at bat, the count and the number of outs. Kay is so busy asking inane questions of his booth partner or partners that he rarely calls the game. And when he runs out of stupid remarks there is often dead silence. Let's face it, with 4 hour Yankee games, especially when you turn away at times, it is nice to hear the calls.

The only saving grace is that it spares me from having to listen to Sterling on radio. They both sprang from WABC radio when it was the flagship station. When you listen to other announcers on MLB.TV or audio you realize how awful the both of them are! Can't the great and powerful Yankees do better than these two schmucks?!!

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