FanHouse Michael Kay

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* "In 21 months, or just 324 regular-season games from now, Derek Jeter's contract expires. At that point, the Yankees have to decide what to do with Jeter and Jeter has to decide what to do with the Yankees. [...] By 2011, the Yanks could have either Jeter or just his future plaque at Monument Park play short; they will have about the same range." -- Joel Sherman, New York Post

* "Sorry Punxsutawney Phil and your six-more-weeks-of-winter prediction, but if you live in New England and are a fan of Red Sox, a sure sign of spring has arrived -- Truck Day!" -- Steve Silva, Boston Globe

Later today, the Red Sox will stroll out of the visitor's dugout and face the Yankees for the final time at venerable Yankee Stadium. There will be other goodbyes to the House That Ruth Built in the coming weeks, but with the Bronx Bombers a major longshot to play into October, this series seems to have taken on special significance.

Here are a dozen of the finest moments in the best rivalry in American sports, all of which took place at Yankee Stadium. Even Red Sox fans have to be feeling a little nostalgic about their team's final visit. After all, the franchise's finest hour took place there.

1. Oct. 16, 2003: The ghosts strike one last time. After Red Sox manager Grady Little leaves Pedro Martinez in well past the 100-pitch mark with a 5-2 lead in the eighth inning, the Yankees rally to force extra innings. In the 11th, Aaron Boone sends a deep fly into the Bronx night, sending New York to the World Series and crushing Boston's dreams of ending the Curse of the Bambino again.

If you spent 12 years working at one job, interacting on a daily basis with the same people, you'd probably end up becoming friends with some of them. If you left that job for another one in the same industry, would you stop being friends with those people?

I wouldn't and don't know too many people who would. That makes me and Michael Kay very different people. The Yankee TV announcer and host of his own radio show ripped Joe Torre earlier this week for being in contact with some of his former players with the Yankees.

That's probably surprising to anyone who watched a Yankee game called by Kay. He used to rave about Torre's job handling his players. He also sarcastically referred to him as "St. Joe" while railing about the impropriety of those conversations. Neil Best of Newsday asked him why.


Gosh, what's wrong with people? You rip someone as holier-than-thou after they leave the general vicinity, in the process of creating a mountain out of a molehill, and then they assume that you meant it in a derogatory way.

During last night's Yankee game, YES Network announcers Michael Kay and Paul O'Neill spent most of the inning Joba Chamberlain pitched talking about the inning he pitched on Monday night. After striking out Frank Thomas to end the eighth frame, Chamberlain pumped his fist. That led to a discussion about whether or not the young fella was showing up the old guy, discussion Thomas tried to stamp out.

"He was pumped up, did a good job, and he struck me out in a big situation. So go ahead."

And that's that.

Except the New York media can't let sleeping dogs lie. The tabloids this morning featured stories about fist pumps (or the lack thereof) and how that's just Joba being Joba. Kay and O'Neill were also predictably homeriffic about it comparing Chamberlain's celebration favorably to ones by Dennis Eckersley. Those other celebrations weren't kosher because they're premeditated and it's that premeditation that means you're showing the other guy up.

Of course they'd have the opposite opinion if it were Jonathan Papelbon but so what. It's like having kids. You can talk about your own kids for hours at a time but when others do it, you lose interest. Doesn't make it right or wrong, just the truth. There's no reason why Chamberlain shouldn't pump his fist after getting a big strikeout. There's no reason to expect it won't rub someone the wrong way at some point. Talking about it all the time, on either side, is just a waste of time and energy.

While on the YES Network, and calling Yankees games, Michael Kay has generally always had kind things to say about former Yankees, and current Dodgers manager, Joe Torre. Well, Torre is no longer employed by the Yankees, so I guess that means Kay's decided it's time to let his true feelings out.

Since the Yankees season has ended, Kay has been pretty soft on the topic of Alex Rodriguez, while he's been outwardly critical of Joe Torre. So what's the deal? Why is Rodriguez getting the free pass, when what's he's done is a larger "Eff you" to the Yankees than anything Torre's done? That's what one caller wanted to know when he asked Kay the question on Kay's radio show on ESPN 1050.

Kay, was not amused.

"There are things about Joe Torre, if I wanted to come out and say, would show how cold and calculated he really is," Kay fumed. "... Joe Torre is for Joe Torre. ... The graveyard of Yankees coaches is loaded with bones of coaches Joe Torre did nothing about."

Yes, Joe Torre is all about Joe Torre while Alex Rodriguez clearly cares about nothing else but other people. Which is why A-Rod felt the need to announce he was opting out of his contract during the World Series, and then told the Yankees if they wanted to keep him it would cost $350 million.