NYC Radio: Michael Kay Returns To ESPN 98.7 On September 6

Longtime voice of the New York Yankees, Michael Kay is coming back to WEPN ESPN 98.7 FM after an extended vacation from radio. Kay will return to “The Michael Kay Show” on the day after Labor Day, Sept. 6, to join Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg as the main host of his program.

Dave Marchand at The New York Post wonders. if this is the beginning of the end on New York sports radio afternoons. As Marchand sees it, Kay had the classic battle with Mike Francesa for afternoons, finally beating WFAN on Mike Francesa’s way out. He and his crew have now gone back-and-forth with Craig Carton and Evan Roberts, but C&R, for a second book in a row, knocked off Kay’s show in the spring. At 61, after two decades, will Kay be on the radio on Sept. 6, 2023?

His ESPN contract will be up in September of next year. Though it’s possible he could stick around a few more years, this is how these things work: You start taking summers off, then you take a little more time off or you hang up your mic.

Asked directly if this could be it, Kay didn’t say yes, but he acknowledged decisions are on the horizon.

“I don’t think so,” Kay told The Post. “At some point, I’m going to have to make a decision as I get older, but, at this point, full-speed ahead.”

Though “The Michael Kay Show” has repeatedly said he was simply on vacation, ESPN hadn’t given a date of return until this week, when it said it would be Sept. 6. Kay took the full summer off because the summer ratings book is deemed unimportant.

Still, it is a stark contrast from Carton, who has taken one full week off and a few three-day weekends. He and Roberts came off vacation heading into the Subway Series last month.

Kay originally asked to take 12 weeks off, but ESPN asked him to return in early September with baseball heating up and the NFL starting in earnest.