Michael Kay Doesn't Get To Tell Us How To Feel As Yankee Fans

I don’t need to be reprimanded by Michael Kay about how us fans should feel about how good Anthony Volpe should be.  He is so short sided in this clip and he clearly misremembers the hype surrounding Volpe. And for him to sit there and suggest that the shortstop doesn’t have to be the best player and compare Anthony Volpe to Bucky Dent “doesn’t mean anything to me.  For one, it starts with the manager and at the time it was Billy Martin.  You can’t try to even compare Boone to Martin because you’d be wrong. Two… Volpe isn’t a good player. Simply use the eye test… he isn’t a great player under pressure and he sure as hell won’t be a franchise favorite for the New York Yankees as we move forward in our fandom.

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The best part? We’re fans. We can feel however the hell we want.  Michael Kay doesn’t get to tell us we’re wrong, in fact his grandfather motivation mentality might be the most tired exercise on the internet right now.  

Kay says “You’re saying he should be Derek Jeter.“  No, we didn’t say that… the media planted it, and don’t get me wrong, the Yankees loved it… especially when things are going good.  Here are some of the headlines and the quotes:

NJ.com (Feb. 08, 2022) 

Yankees greats make bold Anthony Volpe prediction“As a matter of fact, I think Anthony is more polished than Jeter was at the same time.” — Willie Randolph

“… there have been comparisons with Derek Jeter.” –Sanskar Dubey, writer

Kay went off on Instagram, throwing a tantrum defending Volpe like he’s Derek Jeter reincarnated, telling fans to “get ahold of yourselves” and practically calling Volpe a lock for 20 homers and 90 RBIs. First of all, those projections feel more like fan fiction than forecasting. But even if they were real — nobody’s screaming about personal stats, Michael. We’re screaming because Volpe vanishes in key moments and plays like a ghost when games actually matter.

Kay’s next pearl of wisdom? “Do you not remember that he was the shortstop on the Yankees team that went to the World Series last year?” Yes, we remember — because we LOST. Since when is showing up and failing now a badge of honor? Did we lower the bar that much?

And don’t even get us started on the “hitting .250 is good enough” nonsense. First off, he’s not batting .250. What crack is that take laced with? .250 used to get you benched in the Bronx. Now, thanks to Kay’s new analytics-lite, it gets you a gold star and a bouquet of excuses.

Then Kay — self-appointed moral authority of Yankees fandom — tells us to stop screaming that Volpe has to go. Um, excuse us? We pay to watch this team. We pay for seats, parking, hot dogs, overpriced beer — and the right to be frustrated when the shortstop of the future looks more like the shortstop of Trenton.

The truth is, Volpe’s not it. Maybe he will be one day. But right now? There are better athletes sitting on the bench while we get nightly “just good enough” mediocrity. And Kay’s desperate spin-doctoring isn’t helping — it’s insulting.

Let’s call this what it is: Kay, doing his duty as the Yankees’ corporate hype man. His job isn’t to tell the truth. It’s to manage the fan temperature and protect the brand.  That ESPN New York post is masked as commentary, but it’s really there to attempt to calm the waters and who better than Kay, the guy with a direct deposit from Steinbrenner HQ?

But here’s the rub, Michael: you don’t get to lecture fans. You don’t buy tickets. You don’t ride the 4 train or drive an hour and a half home in traffic after another lifeless Volpe night. We do. So don’t tell us how to feel. Don’t scold us for not falling in line with the company narrative. Fans have every right to want more. We’re not unreasonable — we’re just tired of being gaslit by people who get paid to smile and say, “It’s fine.” What happened to you, dude.

Kay, stop telling us how to think. We don’t like Volpe right now. And that’s okay. You can keep doing PR. We’ll keep telling the truth.

And for the record? Comparing Volpe to Bucky Dent? Please. Bucky won at least one World Series. Boone couldn’t manage a Little League team into a playoff. The only similarity is that both wear pinstripes — and lately, that’s starting to mean less and less.

Do better, Michael. Or at least, stop pretending you’re not reading from the Yankees’ script. Bad look, dude.