Kay’s expertise on all things Yankee is unquestioned: He’s been a booth presence for nearly three decades, the last 18 years as the lead announcer for the Yes Network game telecasts.
In Cone, Singleton, O’Neill, and Flaherty, the Yankees have something akin to an MLB All Star team of color analysts. There are so many, in fact, that the team’s major weakness is keeping abreast of the lineup from day to day.
Having one color analyst is ideal; having two is handy in that it affords the main guy an opportunity for regular R & R. Having four, though, can create continuity issues, especially since each of the four brings his own areas of expertise.
If it’s Cone’s day off, the Yanks are likely to be short on pitching analysis. If it’s his day to work, the offensive analysis can suffer.
The other occasional problem is that the Yankee Way in the booth often seems to correspond to the Yankee Way on the field: it is business-like, efficient but not always fun or especially relaxed.
Having said that, both Kay and his phalanx of experts excel in oratorical presentation. The word ‘erudite’ could apply equally to Singleton, Cone, Flaherty, and O’Neill. They also seem to work well as a team.
Experience: 5
Likeability: 3
Knowledge: 5
Humor: 3
Rapport: 5
Oratory: 5
Total: 26