Michael Kay would prefer to say “See ya” fewer times during the course of the Yankees season.
The 64-year-old television voice of the Yankees revealed he would like to cut back on how many games he calls for YES Network each year while discussing whether he would leave the media business.
“I don’t know. Again, I don’t know. Let’s put it this way: I do 135-140 Yankees games on YES, and if they want me around, I could see myself staying around awhile,” Kay said on “The Main Event with Andrew Marchand” podcast Thursday, as transcribed by Awful Announcing.
“But, I’m not going to go at that pace. If somebody says, ‘OK, you want to do 100 games?’ That would be much more palatable, but we’ll see. Again, never say never because that’s stupid, and I never want to have somebody say, ‘Oh, you said this,’ and I never want to go back on something.
“But I do enter the ‘twilight years’ with some trepidation because what do I do if I retire? I don’t have any interests. I read. I don’t play tennis. I don’t play golf. I mean, I would probably be boring as hell. I’m not sure what I’d do.”
Michael Kay speaks with The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand.http://www.andrewmarchand.com
The 2025 season marks Kay’s 24th calling Yankees games on their television network, in addition to other media gigs including his “Michael Kay Show” on ESPN Radio.
Covering a baseball team on a full-time basis is a grinding job from February until possibly November, requiring plenty of hours away from family and plenty of early-morning and late-night flights.
Michael Kay calls Yankees games for YES Network.AP
Kay already scaled back his radio duties, moving from the afternoon slot to a solo show from 1-3 p.m. ET.
He told The Post’s Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman in March on “The Show” how beneficial that move has been for him, especially with two young children in Charles and Caledonia.
“It was starting to get to me physically, the 3-6:30, and I knew I had to stop” Kay said. “I also have young kids that I want to be part of their life. Moving my show, doing it alone from 1 –3, has been an unbelievable game changer for me. I do the show from home four days out of five, and my kids get home on the bus at 3:30, and I’m with them now rather than sitting downstairs in the basement doing a radio show. I just think it’s going to be so much better for me when the season begins.”
While Kay would not mind cutting back on his television appearances, it doesn’t mean he’s ready quite yet to call it quits yet.
Former Yankees radio announcer John Sterling famously still called games last year at the age of 85, and lead media jobs for big-market teams are ones that are usually held for as long as possible.
Michael Kay with David Cone and Paul O’Neill in 2018.for the NY POST
“I guess I’m at the age (64) where you have to think about it. I’m not sure I want to go forever,” Kay said, per Awful Announcing.
“I mean, I want to live forever, but I’m not sure I want to go [forever]. I mean, I don’t know. I see the value in what Al Michaels is doing. I see the value in John Sterling staying around until he was 86. ”
He added: “Do I want to get out then, when the kids are out of the house in college? I don’t know. Do I want to get out now? No, I mean, I’ve gotta pay the bills.”
