Hour 1: Joba Chamberlain

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Espn's going to Super Bowl 61, and so can you. Enter for a chance to win the trip of a lifetime. Four tickets to Super Bowl 61, plus a three-night stay at Disneyland Resort, where you and up to three guests can enjoy the magic of Disney, plus the Super Bowl Champion Cavalcade. Enter at www.espn.com/sblxi by December 31st, 2026, for your chance to win. No purchase necessary. It's 123126 at 1159 p.m. Eastern. Open only to legal residents of the 50 US states in Washington, DC., who are 18 plus at time of entry. For odds of winning and full official rules, visit www.espn.com/sblxi. Avoid word prohibited.

SPEAKER_2 (0:31)

This is The Michael Kay Show Podcast.

Jake Asman (0:34)

I gotta get more Kay.

SPEAKER_2 (0:35)

Listen live weekdays at one on the Espn New York app and your smart speaker.

SPEAKER_1 (0:41)

No Michael Kay.

Jake Asman (0:42)

That's right, no Michael Kay. Day game for the Yankees. Jake Asman sitting in for the Kayster. And before this man leaves the studio, one more happy birthday to Chris Carlin. He doesn't like it, but he needs to know he's appreciated. And he also left us a bunch of donuts. What a good man that Chris Carlin is. We'll have to talk about it today. Excited to be on with you as we take it till 3 o'clock. Don Haunen Rosenberg comes your way. Then Tom Bauer, Ray Deanahan, producing the program. We got Joba Chamberlain talking New York Yankees baseball at 1.30. Will Parkinson talking New York Jets football at 2.30. Jets 1-0, Giants 1-0. First time since 2009, which also happened to be the year the Yankees last won a championship. But Joba Chamberlain, part of that bullpen, helping the Yankees win it all, so we'll talk with Joba then. I want to start with the Mets though, because I'm honestly shocked that the opinion that I have on the whole Pete Alonso getting cheered by the Met fan is not the 100% universal opinion amongst every Met fan. I'm shocked. I think it's the opinion among most, certainly all the ones in my life. But I have seen some people I really respect, Mets content creators, people who are real Met fans, have an issue with Pete Alonso getting the reception that he's received these last couple of nights. Of course, capping it off last night with the career home run number 300 and then taking a curtain call.

I am shocked that there are actually some, because I think most agree with me, that are upset about this. What do you expect the Met fan to do? If you're going to see the Mets play the Orioles in mid-September in a year where the Mets have been basically eliminated from postseason contention since the end of April, what do you expect? This has been not a bad year for the Mets, one of the worst seasons in the history of the franchise for the Mets. So the fact that the Met fan is showing up, they're there for one reason. They're there for Alonso. And good for Pete Alonso for coming through, giving the Met fans who showed up for him a moment to actually be excited about, show their appreciation.

And of course, a lot of the appreciation for Alonso and the chance of firing David Stearns is because the Mets have been awful. See, if the Mets had gone out there and actually found a sensible solution for Pete Alonso, not Jorge Polanco who's never played first base and try and argue it's all about run prevention and all the other horrendous moves this general manager has made, it'd be a different type of reception if the Mets were in playoff contention. They're not. The Mets are horrible. The cheers for Pete are also to try and stick it to the front office for the Mets fan to voice their displeasure.

And just when you thought David Stearns couldn't look any worse, did you see the interaction that Pete Alonso had with the fans who caught the 300th home run? He signed jerseys, he signed balls for them, he signed bats, he offered them tickets anytime they want to any game with field passes to go down for adding practice at Camden Yards. And he was sincere about it too. You could tell.

I mean, the Mets completely blew this situation. Everyone knows it. It's one of the worst decisions they've ever made. I don't want to hear, oh, well, there's still four more years left on the contract. Nonsense. If the move was made about money or run prevention, it makes absolutely no sense. Anyone criticizing the Met fan or fellow Met fans criticizing Met fans for cheering for Pete. Come on.