Hour 1: Chris Simms and Paul Finebaum

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
This episode is brought to you by Nordstrom.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:03)
For 125 years, Nordstrom has been part of your story.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:07)
The stylist who found the perfect outfit for your big interview.

**SPEAKER_1** (0:10)
The first pair of walking shoes for your one-year-old.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:12)
The tomato soup you shared with your sister at the cafe.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:15)
These are the moments that make Nordstrom, Nordstrom.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:18)
Big or small, we're here for all of it.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:21)
Celebrating 125 years with new moments still ahead.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:25)
Discover it all in Nordstrom stores and at nordstrom.com.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:31)
This is The Michael Kay Show podcast.

**Michael Kay** (0:34)
I gotta get more Kay.

**SPEAKER_5** (0:35)
Listen live weekdays at 1 on the Espn New York app and your smart speaker.

**Michael Kay** (0:43)
This is indeed The Michael Kay Show. We thank you for joining us on this Tuesday, August 25th, 2026 Me and you for two. Those are the rules of engagement and it is the fastest moving two hours in Sports Talk Radio. I mean, that's by far. And you know why? Because I have great co-hosts. You, you, the listeners of the co-hosts. And the way you get in, the membership number 1-800-919-3776, 1-800-919-3776.
One of the things that always gets me is something that becomes a controversy. And I have no idea what's controversy. I have no idea what one side did wrong to anger the other side. And this happened yesterday in the Cubs and the Diamondbacks game. So the starting pitcher for the Diamondbacks is Merrill Kelly, who's very, very good.
And he specializes in having a really good change-up. The third-base coach for the Chicago Cubs is Quinton Berry. And Merrill Kelly felt that Quinton Berry was relaying to the Cub hitters, specifically their left-handed hitters, when he was going to throw the change. And he ended up getting knocked out of the game. And you could see on the field that he was somewhat discombobulated by the thought that somebody was relaying his signs to the hitters. So once he got taken out of the game by Tori Lavello, the manager of the Diamondbacks, he's in the dugout for the Diamondbacks, screaming across the field in the dugout at Quinton Berry, that what Quinton Berry did was wrong. I don't get it. Quinton Berry standing within the prescribed or the prescribed coach's box. You can't go beyond the line toward the outfield. You can't go beyond the line toward the home plate. You can back up all the way to the dugout. That you can do, but you can't go deep or go close because they feel that that's the best way to steal signs, even from catching, from catchers giving signs, which shouldn't be an issue anymore because of pitch comp. So you're getting mad at Quinton Berry. And my point is, shouldn't you be mad at yourself? What did Quinton Berry do that was wrong? So Merrill Kelly after the game seems like he has written his own rule book. He said, if you're at second base and you're a base runner and you're picking up my grips and you're relaying it to the batter, well, that's fine. That's all part of the game. But it's wrong when the coaches do it. No, it's not. Protect your pitch better. Protect your pitch grips better. How's the coach wrong? And I've also seen pitchers get really ticked off at guys at second base that are relaying the signs.
So who were they mad at? Are they mad at themselves? Because they don't know how to protect their grip? Or to not give away what pitch they're going to throw? It's mindless to me. Why isn't even an issue? As long as you are not picking up signs illegally with a telescope, with a camera, with binoculars in the bullpen, that's beyond gamesmanship. A third base coach deciphering the grip of your change up and whistling to the batter so he knows the change up is coming, that's gamesmanship. I don't get it. I've never understood it. I don't understand why people get upset at it. And it's kind of a black mark on baseball. It makes them look like whiny little babies.
Now, what the Astros did, that's wrong.
They had a camera, an illegal camera setup, picking up signs. Then somebody was looking at those signs on a video board adjacent to the dugout. Then relaying that it was going to be a fastball, and when it was a fastball, they banged a trash can. That's not gamesmanship.
What Quintin Berry did yesterday was gamesmanship.
The fact that Merrill Kelly is complaining about it makes him look like a baby.
Baseball sometimes shoots itself in the foot with some of the public spat that it has. There's nothing wrong with what the Cubs did yesterday. This big boy baseball, a lot of money at stake. Both teams are in pennant races to get in a wild card situation. They're going to do everything they can within the rules to get an edge, and Quintin Berry got an edge. And Meryl Kelly did not know how to counter that edge. So instead of countering that edge by disguising your grip, you know what? He complained about it. He was a baby about it. Stop. Stop. That's a bad look for the sport. Now we spoke about the Astros. They play the Yankees starting tonight. Tonight is game one of a three game set at the stadium. Second series of a three series homestand, the longest homestand of the year. So the Yankees just took two out of three against the Toronto Blue Jays, and they had yesterday off. While they had yesterday off, Tampa Bay won, and Boston had a nice win against Sandy Alcantara. So both of them stay three games.