The side’s not retired
Why Singleton decided on 1 more year
This one isn’t gone.
Ken Singleton says there wasn’t a specific moment that made him realize he’s not ready to retire from calling baseball games just yet.
The longtime Yankees broadcaster fully expected the 2018 season would be his last in the YES Network booth when he announced during spring training that he wasn’t coming back next year. But as the season wore on, and fans showered him with pleas to return, Singleton began to change his mind.
“It just seems like after every game I had done or during the course of the season, people on Twitter would say how much they’re going to miss me the next year, and that they would like me to reconsider the possibility of me coming back,” Singleton told the Daily News.
Singleton, 71, still greatly enjoys his job with YES, where he provides insight as an analyst during Yankees games and sometimes fills in as the play-by-play voice. He initially felt it was time to retire, however, because he wanted to spend more time with his family and to watch his grandchildren play sports.
Shortly after the All-Star Game in July, he had a conversation with John J. Filippelli, YES’ president of production and programming, about potentially returning in 2019, and they came up with a solution that will allow Singleton to still call some games next year on a less frequent basis.
“He made it very easy for me to say yes,” Singleton said. “He gave me a very accommodating schedule for next year. He knew that I didn’t want to do as many games as I’m doing now. There’s a family consideration. I wanted to watch my grandkids play ball and play soccer and all that sort of thing as much as I could. He made it that the travel was not so bad. All those things made it easy.”
Singleton, who has homes in the Baltimore and Tampa areas, says he plans to call regular-season games in both cities next year, and he’ll likely do a series in New York and possibly a road series or two as well. He also expects to broadcast spring training games, as the Yankees train in Tampa.
“This is a way of kind of easing my way out if I do (decide) this going to be my last year,” he said of 2019. “Everything’s enjoyable.”
Singleton — who played 15 seasons for the Mets, Expos and Orioles — has been an MLB broadcaster for more than 30 years, including more than two decades calling the Yankees. Next season will mark his 50th season working in the Major Leagues as either a player or announcer.