NYC Radio: Michael Kay Back With Yankees, But Not WEPN

Michael Kay

Sportscaster Michael Kay made an emotional return to the TV broadcast booth Saturday afternoon as the NY Yankees played the Cleveland Indians in Yankees Stadium/

Kay, 58, had been forced off the air for nearly six weeks by a vocal cord issue that required surgery ... and silence.

“I was excited walking in,” Kay said during the YES Network pregame show about stepping back into the booth, "a little emotional and there is some anxiety as well. You just don’t know if the voice is going to hold up. I saw (Yankee skipper) Aaron Boone earlier and I said try to have the guys not hit six home runs.

Kay’s voice was put to the test in the fourth inning when Didi Gregorius and Gleyber Torres hit back-to-back homers. By the end of the game, Kay had called four “See Ya’s” for the Bombers plus a wild sixth inning that saw a trio of ejections.

Kay, who has handled play-by-play duties for the Yankees since the 2002 debut season of the YES Network, said he was able to speak for the first time in five weeks on Tuesday.

According to The NY Daily News, Kay said he won’t be able to pull double duty for a few weeks. He won’t host his WEPN 98.7 ESPN New York radio show and do a Yankees broadcast on the same day.  He will reportedly return to “The Michael Kay Show” on Monday, Aug. 26.

He admitted it was tough to listen to the likes of Ryan Ruocco, Bob Costas, Ken Singleton and John Flaherty subbing in for him while he served his stint on the injured list.