Things got very awkward between Michael Kaye and John Flaherty in the YES booth, and there was a long period of silence on air.
Flaherty struck up an odd relationship with Kaye during the top of the seventh inning of Friday's broadcast of the Yankees-Cubs game when he was talking to her about Wrigley Field being in a residential area and decided to bring up his partner's lack of chatter in the car.
“We didn't talk much this morning on the bus ride to the field, but as I was driving here I thought it would be nice to have somewhere close so I could walk there and back,” Flaherty said. “I know you said Don Zimmer lives in an apartment in center field, but it was pretty quiet on the team bus today, so I had a lot of time to think.”
Then things got unpleasant.
“So you want me to be the talkative one?” Kay replied. “Because I haven't been feeling very well.”
Flaherty seemed surprised by the somewhat terse response.
“It's been a long time since we last saw each other,” the former Yankees catcher said. “You're not doing road work anymore while I'm on the road, so I thought we'd catch up, but it was pretty clear you weren't in the mood, so I figured it would be nice if we lived closer to Wrigley so I could walk to and from the ballpark.”
Things then heated up, with Kaye accusing Flaherty of preferring to work with YES play-by-play announcer Ryan Ruocco over him.
“It's an interesting story that you've created, because I've heard from executives that you prefer working with Ruocco,” Kaye said, “so the two of you are always paired together. That's just what I've heard, and I don't know if it's true.”
Flaherty then criticized Kaye's work schedule.
“Any road trip you don't want to go on, you end up working with Ryan Ruocco because you don't want to work games on the road,” he retorted.
The person I'd like to play a game with is the person in the photo.
Fortunately, Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson hit a grounder to second baseman Gleyber Torres, forcing Kaye to focus elsewhere at second base, but then quickly returned to the demands of Flaherty's schedule.
“Listen, John, I don't make my own schedule. I go where I'm told,” the longtime Yankees spokesman said.
There was a moment of silence before Kay added, “I'm going to be super chatty tomorrow.”
Flaherty appears to have since moved on.
“No, I just wanted to make sure you were OK. I was worried,” he said.
But Kay found time for another jab.
“I think they were worried that I wouldn't say much on air,” Kaye said.
The Yankees won the game, 3-0, and Kaye and Flaherty will be back at the microphone for the mid-series game in Chicago at 2:20 p.m.
