The Big Lead

Yankees broadcaster goes on rant against 'nitwit' Mets fans

Michael Kay's report about Juan Soto feeling 'glum' merely means he'll hear from Mets fans twice as often for the next 15 years.

By J.P. Hoornstra

MLB vice president of baseball operations Joe Torre (right) talks with broadcaster Michael Kay before game one of the 2012 ALCS against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 13, 2012.
MLB vice president of baseball operations Joe Torre (right) talks with broadcaster Michael Kay before game one of the 2012 ALCS against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 13, 2012. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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New York Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay has been taking a lot of heat for his recent report that Juan Soto, the slugger who turned down the Yankees' $760 million offer last December to sign with the New York Mets, was feeling "glum" in his new clubhouse.

The report became a talking point in New York last week, when the Mets played the Yankees in Soto's first chance to square off against his former team.

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Whatever the reasons Soto had for feeling down, they had apparently vanished by the time the Mets left for Los Angeles to play the Dodgers on Monday. Soto homered, doubled, and reached base four times in the four-game series.

Soto also looked quite happy in the dugout with his teammates.

The response among Mets fans who were all too happy to share the viral clip of a happy Soto with Kay was predictable. It prompted the Yankees' broadcaster to pop off on his midday show on ESPN New York on Thursday.

“You think I need to make up something and ruin a 39, 40-year career? Make up something for what? What would clicks do for me, you bunch of ill-informed nitwits,” Kay said, via Apple Podcasts. “Please, get over me. I’m not worth your trouble. I’m the other team’s announcer … you know how silly you look … you know how small and insignificant you make yourself out to be?”

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While those words were clearly intended for a specific subset of the New York audience, everyone heard them — and were clued in to Kay's opinions about Mets fans (some of them, at least).

The tribalism of sports fans knows no bounds; it just rings a little louder in New York than most places.

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