Al Leiter and Paul O’Neil haven’t worked a 2009 regular season game yet, but everyone else has, so here are my initial impressions compared to last year:

Michael Kay: Former beat reporter for the New York Post and New York Daily News, so what do I expect? He continues to antagonize the former players he is with in the booth, and ask questions your girlfriend who never watches baseball asks (“Why is Derek tapping his hip?”)

Although his play-by-play work is fine (so the game flows fine), having a heel be the lead man is kinda frustrating. He still is a YES man, i.e. he pitches things on air that come from higher-ups, and generally has the obnoxious “New York is #1, Yankees #1, everybody else SPIT” mentality.

It’s not that Kay is bad; I can tolerate him. It’s just that every game he’ll say something that makes me frustrated.

David Cone: Vastly improved from last year, the games I’ve seen and heard him in were 3-man teams with Kay and Flaherty, where Coney is kinda the analyst and “3rd man” at the start of the show, but winds up talking the most and adding a lot to the telecasts. Cone’s stories about the players and teams he’s been with are very interesting and relevant to having the right perspective about baseball. He’s a walking encyclopedia when it comes to his own career, stats, and teammates, especially 80′s and 90′s stuff. I trust his opinion a lot, and look forward to him being on. Now that he has accepted that his body is done in terms of playing, he is enthusiastic about adding to the game from the booth.

John “Flash” Flaherty: When Flash isn’t being playfully insulted by Michael Kay, he offers great inside info on the catcher-pitcher relationship, and how stressful and grueling it is to be a baseball player day-in and day-out. I would see he is a more entertaining this year than last, and many times he is unintentionally funny because he is such a non-aggressive straight-laced square. I think he’s underrated, and his observations and insights are generally correct (I can’t think of any errors or wrong generalizations he’s made, a first for a former catcher in a broadcasting booth.) Flash will never have the charisma and personality to be a huge fan favorite, but he is good in a rotating team.

Ken Singleton: Kenny is a gentleman, all-around good guy, and has a great voice. He offers his knowledge about what the batter is thinking during situations. Ken is usually the lead man when Michael Kay is not around. It’s not that Ken doesn’t anything bad, or that their are flaws in his announcing- it’s just that he’s boring. Or maybe I think that because he’s usually calling 4 hour Baltimore games.

Kim Jones: Kim always gets the exclusive post game TV and internet interviews. She flirts with the players and looks like a ditsy blonde, but some people think she is a cutthroat career opportunist who knows exactly which questions to ask, and who reports directly to the Yankees Hierarchy.

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