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Michael Kay (born February 2, 1960) is the main play-by-play voice of the New York Yankees on the YES Network and their broadcast television partner WWOR-TV.
A New York sports reporter, who wrote for both the New York Daily News and the New York Post, Kay has been the Yankees' lead television announcer since 2002, after spending a decade partnered with John Sterling as the radio voices of the team on WABC-AM. When WCBS-AM acquired the radio rights for 2002, the same year the YES Network debuted, Kay moved to the television side while Sterling remained on the radio.
While New York newspaper critics generally do not find him as bombastic as radio anchor Sterling, Kay has developed his own style and notable on-air phrases. On radio and TV, Kay has been best known for saying "See-ya!" during his home run calls (it's also his signature phrase at the end of his broadcasts). He has also been known for his frequent signature description of the teams' uniforms at each ballgame, especially the "interlocking N-Y" of the Yankees' home jersey. "And after six and a half innings," Kay implores the listeners or viewers to "get up and stretch!"
During Kay's near decade-and-a-half as a broadcaster, Yankee fans have also noticed that during post-game recaps, Kay reads the length of the match as "a manageable 2 hours 45 minutes" or "an unmanageable 3 hours and 15 minutes," depending on whether or not the game breaks the three-hour mark. Sometimes, if a game is as dramatic as it is long, he might call it "a ridiculously unmanageable but thoroughly enjoyable 4 hours and 35 minutes."
Kay also adds an edge to the plug of the YES Network's website at the end of each live broadcast by saying, "For more information on the YES Network, you have to go out, buy a computer, turn it on, and log on to YESNetwork.com."
Since the late 1990s, Kay and Sterling have co-emceed the Yankees' annual Old Timers' Day ceremony (following in the tradition of the late Mel Allen and Frank Messer), players' number retirements and the City Hall celebrations after Yankees' World Series victories.
Kay also has a talk show in New York from 4 PM to 7 PM (eastern time) on 1050 ESPN Radio. Kay has previously served as the post-game locker room reporter for the MSG Network.
Kay is also the host of the YES Network's CenterStage, where he interviews people from all different branches of sports and entertainment, and he occasionally appears on ESPN's The Sports Reporters.
Like fellow New York area play-by-play announcers Bob Papa and Chris Carrino, he is an alumnus of Fordham University, the school where the legendary Marty Glickman once taught.
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