New York Yankees TV Host Michael Kay is back hosting a solo weekday show on ESPN 880 AM from 1-3 p.m., and he remains shocked that neither WFAN nor ESPN New York has brought Mike Francesa back in any capacity.
Kay, whose Yankees broadcast team ranked fourth-best among local MLB radio crews in Awful Announcing’s 2026 rankings, shared the comments with Brandon Contes on The Awful Announcing Podcast.
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| Michael Kay |
He described mixed feelings about the years the two went head-to-head.“I have nothing against Mike Francesa,” Kay said. “We certainly are different people, and whatever the case may be. I’ve always said the best way I could describe it, if I got to the top of the mountain, I’d be really, really happy I was at the top of the mountain. Mike got to the top of the mountain and decided the best thing to do is to pee down on the people below him. And that’s just not the way I am. But you know what? It worked out great for Mike. Mike’s a legend. And when the history of sports talk radio is written, He’s going to be in the first page. That’s how great he was.”
Kay added that he is still surprised Francesa does not have a daily radio show despite his BetRivers work. “I think his voice is still needed. I think his voice is still valued. And if he wanted to, if either of the radio stations were smart, they’d bring him in for almost like what I do, a two-hour show. And I bet you would get a tremendous amount of traction because he’s a provocateur when it comes to radio. He knows what buttons to push. He’s really, really good.”
He noted that a two-hour format was once frowned upon near the end of Francesa’s WFAN tenure, but the rise of podcasts and YouTube has made that length both reasonable and fulfilling for audiences.