Deep into the second season of ESPN’s KayRod Cast, Don La Greca finally got an invite to join Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez on the show, and it wasn’t what he expected.
Monday afternoon, La Greca recapped his KayRod Cast appearance on ESPN New York’s The Michael Kay Show and while he admitted it was a lot of fun, he expected it to be even more fun.
“It was a lot of fun. It wasn’t what I expected,” La Greca said. “I thought there’d be more frivolity or fun and less analysis. Especially with the game kind of getting out of hand.”
The alternate Sunday Night Baseball broadcast featuring Kay and Rodriguez should thrive when the game isn’t close. Instead of turning off a game that isn’t really competitive, fans should be able to switch over to the alternate broadcast for interesting conversation and a different type of analysis.
A lifeless New York Mets effort during their 6-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox, paired with an appearance for La Greca that lasted three half innings offered plenty of room for less analysis and more frivolity and fun. But there is one person who should be faulted for the lack of frivolity and fun on the KayRod Cast, and that’s Alex Rodriguez.
A-Rod couldn’t pivot away from Funkmaster Flex fast enough pic.twitter.com/RW0MD95nFi
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 25, 2023
During La Greca’s appearance, Kay mentioned the third personality on their ESPN New York radio show, Peter Rosenberg. He also mentioned the name Funkmaster Flex to Rodriguez, which appeared to start the downfall of frivolity and fun on the broadcast. “I know Peter’s a little jealous right now so we have to give him happy birthday wishes. He’s on his honeymoon and he’s celebrating his birthday today,” Kay said. “We went to his wedding and it was quite the shindig. Funkmaster Flex played a set.”
Once Funk Flex entered the conversation, Rodriguez seemed hellbent on transitioning the broadcast back to baseball as quickly as he could, hiding behind the claim that he didn’t know who the famed DJ was.
“I love it,” Rodriguez said. “Can we get back to baseball though? I don’t know anything about music. You guys are way [over my head].”
Funk Flex, who is a Hot 97 talent, the station where Rosenberg works on a morning show in addition to his afternoon ESPN New York responsibilities, was a former critic of A-Rod’s relationship with Jennifer Lopez. Maybe Rodriguez doesn’t know who Funkmaster Flex is. But the speed at which Rodriguez ran away from the frivolous conversation certainly made it seem like he was aware that Flex previously mocked his relationship with J-Lo.
Had it not been for Kay broaching Rosenberg’s wedding and Rodriguez seemingly being sensitive to the name Funkmaster Flex, maybe La Greca would have gotten more of the frivolity and fun he expected on the KayRod Cast.
