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New York Yankees announcer is beefing with Toronto Blue Jays fans

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
|
Jul 4 2025, 3:42 pm
New York Yankees announcer is beefing with Toronto Blue Jays fans
Mitch Stringer/Imagn Images

New York Yankees announcer Michael Kay might be regretting stirring up the Toronto Blue Jays fans — and one of his cross-border colleagues — this week.

It all started earlier this week when Kay, the longtime voice of the Yankees for YES Network, took to his radio show to discuss the Blue Jays beating New York 12-5 on Canada Day at the Rogers Centre.

“The Blue Jays are not a first-place team, I’m sorry.” Kay said. “If you look at the run differential, the Yankees’ run differential is +105. The Blue Jays, after their 12-5 win, finally got into the positive yesterday, they’re +4. Do you realize that they should be a .500 team?”

At the time, the Jays were one game back of the Yankees for first place in the American League East. While they’ve not blown out their opponents in nearly as many games as the Yankees, a strong record in close contests has pushed the Jays to their current spot in the standings.

Not only did the Jays win that game, but they completed a four-game sweep to first tie and then overtake the Yankees for first place in the division.

Kay caught wind of his comments being circulated on social media, and called out the fan indirectly who posted it, taking offence to being called an “idiot.”

“It’s amazing, we live in such a toxic society,” Kay said. “Somebody disagrees with you… They’re idiots? If you think that I’m the bad guy because I pointed out numbers where a team should be, and they’ve exceeded that, I’m not knocking the team. I’m showing them how gutty and gritty they are.”

 

The war of words even made its way onto Sportsnet’s broadcast following the series, with host Jamie Campbell giving a subtle shot at Kay’s comments.

“I can think of a certain Yankee broadcaster, in fact, who is gonna have to go on his show tomorrow and admit that the Blue Jays are a first-place team, because the standings prove it,” Campbell said.

The Yankees return to the Rogers Centre on July 21, in what’s sure to be a fun three-game series.

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