Michael Kay blames tendency to find media scuffles on the ‘street’ in him: ‘I’m damaged’

Whether it’s his past battles with Mike Francesa or recent ones with Blue Jays fans and Jamie Campbell, Michael Kay never seems too far from his next feud, but it’s not because he enjoys them.

This season has seen Kay pit himself against Mets fans after he reported Juan Soto seemed “very, very glum” in Queens. It’s also seen Kay pit himself against Toronto baseball fans after he explained why the first-place Blue Jays aren’t actually a first-place team.

The latter sparked a back-and-forth with Sportsnet’s Jamie Campbell, who mocked Kay’s take by waving a broom after the Blue Jays completed a four-game sweep against the Yankees last week. Campbell and Kay have since exchanged pleasantries and respect for each other. But on the heels of this latest feud, Kay joined Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman on their podcast for the New York Post, where the Yankees play-by-play voice insisted he didn’t keep putting himself in these situations.

“I always find myself in these situations and I’m damaged. I wish I didn’t act like this. I wish I didn’t have to react. But you know, I know you come from the same sort of humble beginnings as I do and there’s a lot of street in us and we want to fight back, especially when we feel that we were wronged,” Kay told Sherman on The Show.

“I am a damaged freak,” Kay added. “I wish that I didn’t get into these fights. I wish that I could simply be a guy who does the game and just don’t have Mets fans coming at me and Blue Jays fans now, so now it’s become international hate, it wears on you.”

Kay could simply be a guy who does the game without having Mets and Blue Jays fans coming after him. But he would have to give up his daily 1 – 3 p.m. weekday show on ESPN Radio in New York to be that guy. Kay isn’t getting into feuds with media or analysts because of what he says while calling a Yankee game on YES Network. He lands in these battles because of the opinions he gives on radio.

To Kay’s credit, his opinions get attention, which is exactly what every good talk radio host strives for. The problem is, Kay doesn’t just accept the attention, he inevitably ends up battling the reaction to it.