WFAN overnight hosts are no strangers to fielding surprising phone calls from fervent sports fans, but there may be no caller more surprising than Jerry Seinfeld.
Chris McMonigle, a Seinfeld fan, was filling in on the evening shift Tuesday night when his producer attempted to sully one of the greatest sitcoms in TV history. And that’s when Jerry from Queens called in.
“I love the show; I’m not arrogant enough to think everybody should like what I do,” Seinfeld said. “I just wanted you to know that doesn’t bother me. I’m okay with it; one out of two is fine for me. That’s all I wanted to say.”
Seinfeld happened to be listening to WFAN as McMonigle was complaining about the NBA’s ridiculous court designs for its in-season tournament. McMonigle said the distracting courts were reminiscent of the giant red neon Kenny Rogers Roasters sign that beamed into Kramer’s apartment during an episode of Seinfeld. The reference prompted producer Paul Rosenberg to claim it was “one of the few good Seinfeld episodes.”
“Look, we made 180 Seinfeld episodes,” Jerry from Queens said. “So, we made three good ones. We’re like the Giants. We’re 3–177.”
Jerry from Queens has been a WFAN caller, mainly to Steve Somers, for decades. But Tuesday night, Seinfeld made his first call to McMonigle. And when Jerry from Queens was finished talking about Seinfeld, McMonigle asked about the Mets’ surprising playoff run.
“You could make a pretty good argument that this season was the most magical, not counting the two World Series wins, this was the most magical,” Seinfeld said. “Because it was a chemistry and it was an energy, and it was an emotional thing of guys that weren’t supposed to be that good. I don’t know what could beat that. Does winning with Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani, would that be as fun as this?”
“As an adult to be jumping up and down and screaming, what makes you jump up and down and scream as an adult? Nothing,” Seinfeld continued. “But there’s no zillion-dollar player that’s gonna throw his helmet down like Jesse Winker. The value of that, that guy going crazy, his enthusiasm, that made it more fun than anything.”
And after McMonigle sparked fond memories by asking about the Mets’ inspiring run to the NLCS, Seinfeld returned the favor by asking about the New York Yankees’ defensive meltdown in the World Series.
“But tell me about the pain of the fifth inning,” Seinfeld told McMonigle. “Tell me about that. I want to know, what did that feel like as a fan?”
“Really?” McMonigle asked, “Do I have to go over that with Jerry Seinfeld right now?”
“Yeah, I wanna hear your pain,” Seinfeld pressed.
Still not over the Yankees collapsing in Game 5 of the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers, McMonigle claimed there hasn’t been a day that went by where he didn’t think about the meltdown.
“It makes me feel so good to hear that,” Seinfeld gloated. “Your pain is my pleasure.”
The conversation continued for a few more minutes before Seinfeld thanked McMonigle for the time on WFAN. “Thank you for taking my call, and thank you for sticking up for me. And I just want you to know that my feelings were not hurt because I’m happy I can make even one person happy. And it’s you, Chris.”
McMonigle closed the conversation by telling Seinfeld he’s so much of a fan that he “even labored through your Pop-Tart movie.”
What a way to say goodbye to one of your favorite celebrities! In McMonigle’s defense, same. But I’m not sure Seinfeld agrees about his terrible Pop-Tart flick. Jerry from Queens can probably take Seinfeld criticism graciously because he knows how many fans will defend it for him. But Unfrosted doesn’t have many supporters or defenders, leaving Seinfeld to do his own dirt work.
Everyone should welcome the 12-minute sports radio call from Seinfeld during the 8 p.m. hour on a random Tuesday night—except maybe Ralph in Manhattan or whichever callers were forced to wait an extra 12 minutes before making their point about Aaron Rodgers.
[WFAN]
