Michael Kay vs David Cone: Tobacco
Michael Kay attacked B.J. Upton for chewing tobacco last night on the YES Network telecast. Kay explained how chewing tobacco sets a bad example for kids, and painted B.J. as a heel. David Cone let it go, but Kay continued saying that tobacco use in MLB should be outlawed since players are role models, and tobacco use causes cancer. He said B.J. probably would deny it and says he is chewing sunflower seeds instead. He said MLB recommends players stay away from tobacco.
David Cone didn’t say much during this rant, but next half inning, Kay lashed into Nick Swisher for the same thing. And that’s when Coney’s jugular vein started to pop out, and he said, “Michael, are you the Tobacco Police?” He raised his voice a bit and asked him why Kay is so focused on it. Kay defended himself, and brought up how the late Bobby Murcer campaigned against it before he died of cancer. Cone went 100% silent; I could only imagine how red his face was with frustration. After an awkward pause, Cone called the game sarcastically: “Moving right long…and there’s a snuff pitch.”
Since Cone was a big-time player representative and union guy, I don’t think he appreciated Kay campaigning to outlaw tobacco chewing since it is an individual’s choice. The players are educated, and if a handful want to continue, so be it. Kay was really acting like a narc, and it was a huge turnoff for Cone, who believes that players should police themselves, not MLB or announcers when it comes to certain things.
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Wow! michael k is an idiot! How lucky was he not to get his face
punched in like a 90 mile fast ball
by Coney's fist?
Tobacco chewing is legal like cigarettes and cigars are..Of coarse it is bad for a persons health. but is michael k a spokes-
person for the cancer society now?
John Sterling and Susan Waldman can't say the name of the hotel
they are staying at or the cars they drive because that is considered a "commercial", so "k"
should shut his mouth!!!!!!!
I wish that i could get my hands on that sports illustrated issue of Cone on the cover! WOW!!!
Coney did get sarcastic with Kay, but I didn't sense anger, just disagreement. Kay did say at the end of his rant he would drop his crusade and was happy that Swisher didn't appear to have any snuff in his mouth during this game. That's when Coney got in the last word of saying Swisher snuffed out a fastball in his last at bat and drilled it up into the seats. Kay worked with the late Murcer for several years and referenced Joe Garagiola's efforts about the dangers of tobacco. Kay obviously isn't pro-tobacco. The Yes network airs lots of smoke free commercials so I get it. Not sure it needs to be discussed in a 3-3 game with the Rays.
I have bigger problems with the fact Kay and other lead play by play men can't remember items of historical significance. He whiffed on knowing Soriano was the last Yankee to lead the AL in steals back in 2002. The other day he seemed to be clueless who Hall of Famer Herb Pennock was. Coney, who loves his Mac laptop and checking out the internet, made reference to Pennock's 240 wins and World Series success when comparing him to Pettitte and whether he has the numbers to make the hall of fame. Through age 36, Pettitte is most similar to Mussina, but HOFs Pennock/Spahn were kind of similar to Pettitte through age 36. It's a story for a different blog. The moral of this story is that when broadcasters get bored, fail to prepare or don't have anything of historical significance to discuss it leads to pointless conversations like the one about smokeless tobacco. Just because you have a live mic, doesn't mean you have to always talk.
Seems like Kay likes to shoot the shit instead of preparing.
Amazing how Soriano becomes a FOOTNOTE in Yankees history.
I think Cone was upset which is why he didn't speak (elongated pause).
Baseball-reference.com's Similar Players list is just a TOY, and is not era-adjusted. It shouldn't be used in HOF-cases.
But it was a nice try for Cone, who probably was just exposed to the site.
Just to be clear- my issue with using Pennock is that Pennock is a low level HOF'er with an ERA+ of 106. He was on some famous teams, and had da ringz.
If you wanna use other TOYS which are not era adjusted, they both fall below average HOF standards, and are borderline on Ink and Monitor.
Andy's post-seasons are mediocre when compared to Herb.
If Coney is using Herb as a comp as evidence to induct Andy, he had better move on.
Of course, if he looked at Andy's lefty peers, he would see how much Andy falls short: Tom Glavine + Randy Johnson.
Andy is better than David Wells and Jimmy Key, but that shouldn't be reason to put him in.
Using counting stats, Andy only has 221 wins vs Mussina's 270, and Andy's ERA is 3.90 and climbing. No starter has even been inducted with an ERA of 4.00.
Andy Pettitte will be in the hall of fame because he is still pitching and has a chance to add wins to his record…So we will just have to wait and see if he gets inducted..I would rather see Andy in the H.O.F. than Sosa, etc..