Whether you believe in the announcer jinx or not, Michael Kay has just about heard enough.
Kay stated that Carlos Correa was 0-for-7 with four strikeouts before the Minnesota Twins star hit a first inning home run off Marcus Stroman, not 10 seconds later. But that’s not the announcer jinx in question that the New York Yankees announcer took issue with.
It happened the day prior when Carlos Rodon recorded the first 16 of 27 outs needed for a perfect game. When Carlos Santana came up to the plate with one out in the sixth inning, John Flaherty mentioned that the veteran power-hitter scared him. Santana would open the floodgates after depositing a home run into the right field bleachers.
Rodon didn’t get shelled, but he gave up three consecutive hits — including the solo shot — and would finish Wednesday’s contest having given up two runs on three hits across six innings with nine strikeouts.
“I have to bring this up because it’s just fascinating to me,” Kay said of Thursday’s The Michael Kay Show. “And we, of course, said that he was perfect through five — 16 up, 16 down — has not allowed a base-runner. Whatever; we did our due diligence.
“Carlos Santana comes up, and Flaherty smartly says, ‘This guy scares me. He has a lot of experience against Rodon. He’s a veteran. This is the guy that would scare me the most moving forward.’ Carlos Santana hits a high fastball into the right field seats for a home run. End of the perfect game, end of the no-hitter, end of the shutout.
“And it happens again, Don and Peter, social media. ‘You guys jinxed it. Why can’t you guys keep your big mouths shut?'”
Don La Greca, Kay’s co-host, was befuddled as to why the Yankees play-by-play voice would pay any mind to the “morons” on social media.
“Your social media feed is flooded with these clowns,” says Kay. “And it’s not just, ‘Oh, you jinxed him,’ like they’re really angry. One guy said, ‘Why can’t you keep your big mouth shut? And do it like…’ First of all, anyone that doesn’t mention if you’re pitching a perfect game is not doing their job as a broadcaster.”
“Who’s keeping it a secret? Every game that I’ve ever watched where there’s a no-hitter or perfect game, they say it,” added La Greca. “Plus, there’s the bug right on the screen that indicates that there’s no hits. And this is why they’re really, really morons. And I’m not even sure on a functioning level. They probably have somebody tweet for them. Is the fact that it was never said anything about the announcers. It’s don’t talk to a pitcher during a no-hitter. You’re not talking to a pitcher during a no-hitter; that’s for all the guys in the dugout…
“You’re putting yourself in a situation that doesn’t exist. It doesn’t exist for the fans or, the announcers or the people sweeping the concourse. It’s only for the people that play with the pitcher. So, these people are morons, do not address them. And even though there’s a mob of them, it doesn’t matter. They’re too stupid to take over.”
Peter Rosenberg acknowledged that it’s hard not to ignore the trolls, leading Kay to vent his frustration further. Kay feels the pressure to respond because even though these fans are demonstrably wrong, their constant negativity is difficult to disregard completely.
“You know what? I read a quote about democracy that applies to this, though,” Kay said. “This is a great quote. I only read it two days ago. It’s obviously been out there, but I’ve never heard it before. ‘The only problem with democracy is that morons have the same level of influence in terms of votes as people that are smart.’ That’s a big deal.”
But what truly irked Kay was a fan who told him to “do his job.”
“Well, I am doing my job, sir,” he said. “That’s my job to tell you that there’s a perfect game. And although we have a bug up there that says nothing-nothing, if you just tuned in, you have no idea if he’s pitching a perfect game. If I don’t tell you that, I’m not doing a good job.”
Kay admits it’s difficult to completely ignore the barrage of negativity from these fans.
“It does not impact me at all the way I do my job,” Kay said. “I have a responsibility. And I work off the bible of Vin Scully, who said, ‘If you don’t say it, you’re not doing your job. And I also work off the bible of John Sterling, who had the perfect answer. ‘If I could control what’s happening on the field, I’m grossly underpaid. It’ll be a 2-1.'”
Kay then read off a tweet from David, saying, “Amazing. The jinx known as Michael Kay opens his mouth about Rodon being perfect. He’s been getting hit pretty good. Great job, Michael. Please learn the superstitions in baseball.”
This fired up La Greca, who urged Kay to reveal the name of this “ignoramus,” arguing that people deserve to know how misguided this individual is. La Greca claimed Kay was giving this person a dangerous platform. By keeping the name anonymous, they’re letting this “yo-yo” operate undetected.
It’s worth noting that Kay himself has called broadcasts of seven no-hitters and perfect games. Given his experience, he’s perfectly capable of understanding the situation.
So, whether you buy into the announcer jinx or not, Kay and La Greca are fed up with hearing about it.
