‘Clumsy’ Kay backtracks on Clint diss
Michael Kay, who makes a living talking about sports, now claims he spoke “in a clumsy way” about Clint Frazier's slow return from a concussion.
The Yankees play-by-play announcer and ESPN New York radio yakker apologized to the ailing Yankee outfielder Tuesday morning after he previously had made light of Frazier's concussion symptoms in a radio rant on Monday afternoon.
“Clint, I would never question someone's injury. Never. In fact, I have gone out of my way to say how I felt for you this year and how badly I know how you want to play. It is beyond my comprehension that you would think I would minimize what you are going through,” Kay tweeted Tuesday morning.
“The next time I make light of someone's injury will be the first time. I should have said how unfortunate you and Ellsbury's injuries are. It came out in a clumsy way. If you took it the wrong way, I apologize and look forward to speaking with you personally.”
Kay was on vacation Monday but called into his afternoon radio show to talk about the Yankees' miserable weekend series sweep to the Red Sox. Kay pointed to the serious playing time given to role players Shane Robinson and Luke Voit as he targeted the absences of Frazier and Jacoby Ellsbury; Frazier has played in 15 games this season, while Ellsbury hasn't played in one. Though they also missed the Red Sox series with injuries, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez were spared Kay's ire.
“Shame on the Yankees for not having depth, but again, shame on guys like Jacoby Ellsbury for not getting healthy,” Kay said on the show. “Shame on Clint Frazier for not getting healthy. You can't make them get healthy, but if those guys are available, it's completely different.”
Kay later tweeted that he was being “facetious” in his remarks about the injured players, but Frazier didn't buy it.
“.@RealMichaelKay facetious or not, I don't appreciate what you said today. i'm doing everything I can to get healthy so I can play symptom free ... so steer clear of publicly calling me out for not when we haven't even had one convo about my concussion this year. #ShameOnYouBro,” Frazier tweeted Monday night.