Michael Kay insists he calls games down the middle: ‘Yankees fans don’t like it’

Micheal Kay might benefit when the New York Yankees win, but he insists that won’t stop him from calling a game without bias.

Kay put that theory to the test this past weekend, when the Yankees were swept by the Miami Marlins in South Florida. Friday night, the Yankees blew a 9-4 lead to Miami, with the big blow coming on a grand slam by Marlins outfielder Kyle Stowers. After the game, Marlins broadcaster Stephen Strom noticed Kay called that grand slam with excitement, despite it coming against the Yankees.

Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) on last night’s game with @SStrom_ 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/UKArSc9EDv

— Marlins Radio Network (@MarlinsRadio) August 2, 2025

“You want to be fair to everybody, you want to be fair to the business,” Kay told Strom. “It almost seems like it makes you more of an outlier. Because around baseball, you see an opposing team hits a home run and the guy just talks it through. And I could never be like that. But to tell you the truth, on social media, the Yankee fans don’t like it. They don’t like it at all. ‘Why are you getting excited?’ I get excited for the game of baseball. So if somebody threw a no-hitter against the Yankees, I’d get excited.”

Kay credited his background as a journalist for his ability to call the game without bias. He also credited his former radio partner, John Sterling. That might come as a surprise considering Sterling absolutely came across as a Yankee homer throughout his iconic tenure in the booth. But his Yankee fandom didn’t stop Sterling from meeting the moment when it was big for the opposition, as heard in his call of the Arizona Diamondbacks winning the 2001 World Series.

Kay admitted his heart leans toward the Yankees because it’s better for business and better for the YES Network. But Kay’s heart also leans toward the Yankees because he grew up rooting for them. And there should be no shame in acknowledging that fandom.

Fans want some semblance of homerism from their local announcers, just ask Joe Buck. That shouldn’t preclude an announcer from having energy when the opposition does something big. But Kay seems to be treating homerism from local baseball announcers like a negative, and it’s not.