Yankees' broadcaster Michael Kay reached out to Don Mattingly to play peacemaker with the Toronto Blue Jays
Photo credit: https://bluejaysnation.com/
New York Yankees play-by-play man Michael Kay called on Toronto Blue Jays bench coach and former Yankee legend Don Mattingly to clear up a few things.
After sparking a feud with the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans by claiming they're not a first-place team, Michael Kay elicited Don Mattingly to play peacemaker.
As the Blue Jays stormed toward first place earlier this month, Kay went on his ESPN New York radio show and reassured Yankee fans by dismissing the idea of Toronto being a first-place team, citing their run differential.
Two days later, the Blue Jays assumed control of first-place and three weeks later, they still haven't looked back, forcing Kay to repeatedly explain his claim that they're not a first-place team.
The initial comment sparked a back-and-forth with Sportsnet broadcaster Jamie Campbell, prompting a brief feud that they quickly sorted out.
Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay claims that he wasn't trying to back track after the Blue Jays took over first place
But every time the Blue Jays win, there are fans on social media attempting to mock Kay for what he said earlier this season.
And with the Blue Jays maintaining control of first place over the Yankees, Kay has insisted he was trying to compliment the team, even if it didn't sound or come across that way on his radio show.
According to Kay, he was trying to praise the Blue Jays for outplaying their run differential, not insult them.
While Kay is unlikely to get Blue Jays fans to believe he meant no disrespect by saying they weren't a first-place team, he did to want to make sure Toronto's manager John Schneider heard his explanation.
To do that, Kay reached out to his former broadcast partner and current Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly.
«I just reached out to Donnie, I said, 'Can you tell Schneider what I meant?' and then Donnie actually told Schneider and Schneider contacted me,» Kay told the Toronto Star this week. «We had a text exchange and he said, 'I totally understand, you don't have to clarify anything, I know exactly what you mean."
«People don't want to believe it, they think I'm backtracking when I'm not.»
If the Blue Jays never jumped over the Yankees and assumed control of first-place, this would have been a non-story.
But the bottom line is Toronto hurdled the Yankees right after Kay said:
«The Blue Jays are not a first-place teamthey're not playing great baseball.»
No fanbase is going to hear a radio host say that about their team and take it with reason.
«I think I might have said they're not playing that great because I was looking at the numbers and I probably didn't articulate it the way I should have,» Kay told the Toronto Star. «They were playing better than you would think they were playing when you looked at their numbers.»
Mattingly and Schneider probably have more important things to worry about at this point in the season, but it was nice of Kay to reach out.
And maybe he really was trying to compliment the Blue Jays even if it didn't sound that way.
But this has almost become a sort of rallying cry for Blue Jays fans.
Regardless of how many times Kay explains himself or who he explains himself to, Blue Jays fans are going to remember the Yankee announcer saying their team isn't good enough to be in first-place.
And as long as they're in front of the Yankees, they're going to relish mocking that comment.
Source: Awful Announcing
Michael Kay called on Don Mattingly to play peacemaker with Toronto Blue Jays
Michael Kay called on Don Mattingly to play peacemaker with Toronto Blue Jays
TRENDING NOW
