As Yankee fans prepare for Juan Soto to return, Michael Kay urges them to be above using profanity, but don’t be above booing.
After spurning the Yankees 16-year $760 million offer to accept a 15-year $765 million deal with the New York Mets, Soto returns to the Bronx Friday night for the start of the Subway Series.
Soto is already preparing for a hostile return to Yankee Stadium, telling the New York Post it’s going to be “50,000 against one.” And according to their longtime play-by-play voice, Yankee fans should give it to him.
“I’m anticipating the reaction that Juan Soto is gonna get at Yankees stadium,” Kay said on his ESPN Radio show. “And I think the reaction, If I’m a Yankee fan, would be constant booing of Juan Soto. Now, nothing profane. It shouldn’t be that. You should be ashamed of yourself if you say anything like that.”
Michael Kay has long been against profanity of any kind. He already ripped Yankee fans for earlier this season for starting a “f*** Juan Soto” chant at the stadium. And while Kay insisted Yankee fans are above the vulgar chants, he gave them the go ahead to boo mercilessly.
“Don’t be classless with the bleep Juan Soto,” Kay reiterated. “Be a little more clever than that. You can boo without using the f-word. There are gonna be kids in the crowd! But make him feel how hurt you feel. Nothing wrong with it. Don’t let anybody guilt you into that. I’ve heard people say, ‘show him that you’re better than that.’ No, you’re not better than that! You’re fans.”
“They feel betrayed, they feel like jilted lovers,” said Kay, a lifelong Yankee fan. “If you feel like you’re betrayed, then boo him. Boo him every time he’s near the ball. Boo him every time there’s a fly ball. Boo him every time he comes up to the plate. Boo him!”
This might be a little surprising coming from the team’s play-by-play voice, but Michael Kay had his radio host hat on during this rant. And he’s right. Yankee fans should boo. They should boo the Mets, they should boo Juan Soto, they should bring juice to the Subway Series. And Soto’s return has undoubtedly ignited the Subway Series, which has experienced its share of ebbs and flows since being added to the MLB schedule in 1997.
