Michael Kay | |
|---|---|
 Kay in 2010 | |
| Born | (1961-02-02)February 2, 1961 (age 64) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Fordham University (B.A.) |
| Occupation | Broadcaster |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Known for | Broadcaster for theNew York Yankees |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Danny Aiello (uncle) Danny Aiello III (cousin) Rick Aiello (cousin) |
Michael Kay (born February 2, 1961)[1][2] is an American sports broadcaster who is the televisionplay-by-play broadcaster of theNew York Yankees and host ofCenterStage on theYES Network, and the host ofThe Michael Kay Show heard on "ESPN New York 880"WHSQ in New York City andsimulcast onESPN Xtra onXM Satellite Radio.[3] Kay also works on theMLB on ESPN.[4]
Kay was born and raised in the New York City borough ofthe Bronx.[5] His father wasJewish and his mother was ofItalian descent.[6] Always a Yankee fan, Kay wore number 1 inLittle League for his favorite player,Bobby Murcer. Wanting to be the Yankees announcer when he grew up, he wrote as many of his school assignments as he could about the Yankees, so he could learn all about them.[7][full citation needed] Kay began his reporting career at theBronx High School of Science and continued reporting atFordham University for their radio stationWFUV. He earned aBachelor of Arts incommunications from Fordham.[3]
Kay started his professional career with theNew York Post in 1982 as a general assignment writer, with sports-specific assignments to college basketball, theNational Basketball Association and theNew Jersey Nets happening over time. He received the writing assignment covering the Yankees in 1987.[3]
In 1989, Kay left thePost for theDaily News, still primarily covering the Yankees. Kay also served as theMadison Square Garden Network Yankee reporter starting in 1989.[3]
In 1992–99, he was MSG's locker room reporter for theNew York Knicks. He had previously worked for the network as a contributor on the news-format sports showMSG SportsDesk. Kay left theDaily News to host a sports talk show onWABC in 1992, briefly returning to write "Kay's Korner" for theDaily News in 1993, before taking a job doing radio broadcasts of New York Yankees games withJohn Sterling.[3] Kay also worked as a reporter forFox Sports Net in the late 1990s.
Kay spent a decade partnered with Sterling as the radio announcers of the team on WABC from 1992 to 2001.[8] Kay and Sterling also paired together in 1998 forSports Talk with John Sterling and Michael Kay, a nightly radio show which aired on WABC.[8]
During the baseball season, the duo hostedYankee Talk, a weekend pre-game radio show. From 1992 to 1993 Kay hosted his own show on WABC. Kay continued during that time as a spot reporter onABC Radio, doing off-season shows with Sterling and as a fill-in sports reporter onWABC-TV. When ESPN Radio began leasing (and later purchasing) WEVD radio in 2001, Kay was chosen to host a daily radio show on the newly rechristened "1050 ESPN Radio".[9]
WhenWCBS acquired the radio rights to the Yankees broadcasts in 2002, Kay moved to the debutingYES Network on television and Sterling remained on the radio. Kay has been the Yankees' lead television play-by-play announcer ever since.[3]
Kay has worked with a series of partners on YES, often with three or four different partners in the same season. Most have been former professional players, includingKen Singleton,David Cone,Al Leiter,Paul O'Neill,Jim Kaat,John Flaherty,Joe Girardi,Lou Piniella, andBobby Murcer. Kay calls about 125 games a year for theYES Network andPrime Video (the Prime games were formerly broadcast in the Yankees' territory by a network led byWPIX-TV).[10]
In 2008, Major League Baseball invited Kay to call theHome Run Derby at Yankee Stadium during that year's All Star festivities. On September 21, 2008, he joinedJon Miller andJoe Morgan to call the seventh inning ofESPN'sbroadcast of the final home game atYankee Stadium against theBaltimore Orioles. According to Miller, Kay was brought in because ESPN felt that they should include the local aspects of broadcasting for the Yankees for this special game, as theYES Network was not allowed to cover the game.[11]
Since the late 1990s, Kay and Sterling have co-emceed such events as the Yankees' annualOld-Timers' Day ceremony[12] as well as players' number retirements,[13] anniversary celebrations for the team's World Series victories,[14] and theCity Hall celebrations after Yankees'World Series victories.[15] Following Sterling’s retirement, Kay handled 2024 duties solo.
Kay and Sterling also provided play-by-play commentary forNintendo 64'sAll-Star Baseball video games from 1999[16] to 2001.[17][18] In addition to his Yankees work, Kay has called play-by-play of several postseason games onESPN Radio, including the2008 NLDS between thePhiladelphia Phillies andMilwaukee Brewers,[19] the2013 ALDS between theDetroit Tigers andOakland Athletics,[20] and Game 3 of the2016 ALDS between theTexas Rangers andToronto Blue Jays.
In January 2022,ESPN hired Kay andAlex Rodriguez to broadcast an alternateSunday Night Baseball broadcast onESPN2, similar to the critically acclaimed "Manningcast" forMonday Night Football.[21] These broadcasts ram through 2023.
That same year, Kay also called the2022 National League Wild Card Series on ESPN alongside Rodriguez. Doing theSt. Louis Cardinals-Philadelphia Phillies series, these games were noted for being the final games in the careers ofAlbert Pujols andYadier Molina. The duo both went out with singles and getting standing ovations from the crowd as they exited for pinch runners. The Phillies swept the Cardinals in two games in the best of three.
In 2025, Kay began posting “chicken tender reviews” on anInstagram page, following in the example ofDave Portnoy’s pizza reviews. He aims to sample chicken tenders at every ballpark the Yankees visit.[22]
In 2002, Kay began hosting a drive-time talk show onWEPN (the former WEVD). That same year he began hosting the YES Network'sCenterStage, a sports and entertainment interview-format show.[23]
Kay frequently broadcast live from the vicinity of the stadium that the Yankees were playing in that evening (his contractual exclusivity prohibited him from hosting the show from insideYankee Stadium). This is no longer the case.
From 2009 until 2011, the 6:00 hour had been co-titledNew York Baseball Tonight throughout the baseball season. Kay did not usually appear during that hour if he was broadcasting a Yankee game that evening. Don La Greca often hosted this segment and appeared with Kay on the rest ofThe Michael Kay Show.
When Kay is on the air for the end of his program, he usually signs off with the following: "In the words ofBilly Joel, life is a series of hellos and goodbyes, and I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again," before promoting the next program. Kay opened his first-ever simulcast on theYES Network on February 3, 2014, by dumping a bottle ofDiet Coke into the garbage, a move meant to poke fun of the channel's former occupantMike Francesa. The canned action was widely criticized.[24]
The final broadcast of The Michael Kay Show was on December 13, 2024.
In 2003, Kay was added to theBronx Walk of Fame. In 2007, Kay was nominated for a number of New YorkEmmy Awards for his work with the YES Network, both for Yankees broadcasts and for his highly ratedinterview programCenterstage.[25] He won one New York Emmy for his work on the YES Network as part of the team of the NYY broadcast: New York Yankees Baseball "Manny vs. NY – Yankees/Red Sox- 5/24/06." (YES Network).[26]
In 1998, Kay was on the MSG team that won an Emmy forOutstanding Live Sports Coverage—Series. In 1996 and 1997 he was a member of the MSG team that won Emmys forOutstanding Live Sports Coverage—Single Program forDwight Gooden'sno-hitter andThe Battle for New York: Yankees vs. Mets, and he was awarded theDick Young Award for Excellence in Sports Media by the New York Pro Baseball Scouts in 1995, and the award for Best Sports Reporter at the 2000 New York Metro Achievement in Radio Awards.[27]
Kay married television journalistJodi Applegate on February 12, 2011, with former New York mayorRudy Giuliani officiating. Guests included former Yankees such asAl Leiter,Tino Martinez, andPaul O'Neill, actorsRobert De Niro,Bobby Cannavale, andBilly Crystal, and actor/uncleDanny Aiello.[28] The couple have two children: a daughter, Caledonia, born in 2013 and a son, Charles, born in 2014.[29][30] He resides inGreenwich, Connecticut.[31]
On July 3, 2019, Kay announced that he would undergo vocal cord surgery, keeping him out of the broadcasting booth from early July until late August.[32] He returned to the booth on August 17, and returned to his radio show on August 26.[33]
Kay is 31, a Bronx High School of Science and Fordham product.
Being born and bred in the Bronx, there was only one team to root for—the Yankees.
...my dad, who was of Jewish heritage...
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