Fans have come out of the woodwork to accuse New York Yankees broadcast Michael Kay of saying one of their rivals had pulled off a huge no-no in baseball.
Ironically, the Yankees found themselves in a controversy against the Toronto Blue Jays last year when Aaron Judge hit a long home run shortly after noticeably peeking toward his dugout. There was wide speculation that Judge had received a tip from someone in or near his dugout.
Well, the two AL East rivals faced each other this week in Toronto, and the Blue Jays’ bats came ready.
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Michael Kay during the 75th New York Yankees Old Timers Day on September 9, 2023, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, they knocked out Carlos Rodon after just four innings of work in which he threw 101 pitches. On Wednesday, they got Marcus Stroman to throw 99 pitches in his 5.1 frames.
It was already the second series between the two teams in the young season, and Kay saw a noticeable difference in the Blue Jays’ offensive approach between the two series.
“You know what’s curious to me, though? We just saw the Blue Jays in the Bronx, and what we watched was a completely different team than the one we’ve seen here in Toronto,” Kay said during Wednesday’s game during a tough at-bat by Bo Bichette. “The one in New York did not foul off the amount of pitches this team does — it’s like it’s a different team in this ballpark. Now, home field advantage, there is something to that, but why would it manifest itself in the ability to foul off tough pitches?…
“You can understand it if the next time you see them, after you saw them in The Bronx, is a month and a half later, but this is a week later, and it’s a completely different approach and a completely different team.”
New York Yankees television broadcaster Michael Kay speaks during the team’s 63rd Old Timers Day before the game against the Detroit Tigers on July 19, 2009, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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Kay also made mention of the Blue Jays’ 10-game road trip to open up the season, as Rogers Centre was undergoing renovations.
Fans were quick to say that Kay had all but accused the Jays of cheating. Even FanSided MLB director Adam Weinrib noticed Kay’s “suspicion.”
A Reddit thread is also titled “Michael Kay thinks the Blue Jays were cheating,” and fans went nuts.
“Never in my life have I seen a team go 4-31 with RISP and get accused of cheating,” one comment on the thread read.
“Imagine being such a moron that you can look at a team with Bo Bichette (perennial top 3 in foul balls), George Springer (known to be able to take a long at bat), Justin Turner (decade long career of having long ABs) and thinking – yeah, these guys are cheating because they can suddenly hit lots of fouls,” another read.
God forbid highly paid professional baseball players make adjustments at the plate for their next series against a team they just played. This has to be the dumbest take I’ve seen in a while,” said one more.
Yankees Broadcaster Michael Kay arrives at a screening of the “2009 World Series Film: Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Yankees” at the Ziegfeld Theatre on November 23, 2009, in New York City. (Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty Images)
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It should be noted that the Blue Jays actually had more foul balls and fewer swinging strikes in the three-game series in New York (103 and 37, respectively) than the three games in Toronto (83 and 53); however, their 45 foul balls on Tuesday at home were, by far, their most in a game against the Bombers this season. (Their 16 the next day were their lowest.)
The Yanks avoided the sweep in Toronto after a huge ninth-inning comeback that was capped off with Judge’s two-run single. The Yanks won the final game, 6-4.
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