SNY/YES Network
New York Yankees announcer Michael Kay doubled down on his one-sided beef with the New York Mets broadcasting trio of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling during Wednesday night’s Subway Series game, which ended in a 12-2 Mets win.
During the 5th inning rain delay, Michael Kay — either ignoring or not caring about the reaction to his original rant — sent out a snide tweet referencing the self-made headline, as he posted a picture of his view from the broadcast booth with the caption “Wow, this is the best rain in baseball.”
Kay’s tweet not only didn’t land with baseball fans, but prompted an immediate response from Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling, who were then able to clown on Kay while on-air.
Cohen, the Mets’ play-by-play man, mentioned he had the chance to meet one of the “young” Yankees broadcasters, Emmanuel Berbari, earlier in the day.
Darling didn’t miss a beat with his response, asking “How does he [Berbari] feel about our show?”, a clear reference to Kay’s comments. It was then Hernandez’s turn to chime in, adding “I heard it was the best rain in Major League Baseball.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry, had to go there, it’s just…” Darling said as the trio giggled before Cohen restored order by saying “I think it’s time to play some baseball.”
Gary Cohen: I met one of of the young Yankee broadcasters for the first time, Emmanuel Berbari.
Ron Darling: How does he feel about our show?
Keith Hernandez: I heard it was the best rain in Major League Baseball.
Cohen: I think it's time to play some baseball. https://t.co/yIYa0IBGfK pic.twitter.com/rLWq2TXPl7
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 27, 2024
On Wednesday, June 26, Kay took issue with SNY, the network that broadcasts the Mets, buying airtime during The Michael Kay Show to advertise SNY as having “the best booth in baseball.”
Kay’s reaction to the otherwise unnoticed ad has been largely deemed insecure by the sports world, with even some Yankees fans admitting that the Mets’ booth is superior.
“The Mets booths on both the radio and TV side are MILES better than what the Yankees offer. And I’m a pinstripes fan,” said the popular BackAftaThis Twitter account, which is an account that specializes in sports talk radio, New York City-based specifically.
Kay’s position, although understandable — of course he’s going to defend himself and his team — is both objectively and subjectively wrong. Objectively, major outlets such as The Athletic and GQ have named the Mets booth the best of all 30 teams in MLB.
Subjectively, putting personal interests aside, most baseball fans without a dog in the fight will listen to both Kay’s calls and Cohen’s calls and prefer Cohen’s. This isn’t even counting that the Mets booth is famed for its consistency between its trio while the Yankees booth is known for its constantly rotating cast of analysts.