The KayRod cast started with one of the most hollow tricks in television: scripted spontaneity. Before the first pitch was even delivered Sunday, Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez strategically read aloud a mean tweet, in which the tweeter said he would rather dive into a bathtub with a toaster than watch 10 seconds of their special broadcast.
Kay and A-Rod responded with some forced guffaws, and away we went.
The KayRod cast will air on ESPN2 during select “Sunday Night Baseball” games this season, and appropriately, the duo made their debut for Red Sox-Yankees. The execution was not horrible: Rodriguez is significantly more tolerable in this venue than as a traditional analyst. He also, mercifully, is significantly more avoidable. Viewers now must seek him out on select Sunday evenings. His stiff gibberish is no longer forced upon us.
The biggest problem with the KayRod cast centers around its two hosts, Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. They’re just not as fun or lively as the Manning brothers, whose ManningCast was so well received, it convinced ESPN executives to try the same idea with A-Rod. On Monday nights, it really seemed like we were watching the game alongside Peyton and Eli Manning, with their famous buddies being beamed in via mediocre Zoom connections.
With the KayRod cast, there was no suspension of disbelief. Kay and A-Rod spent the entire evening nestled inside of a small box on the upper-left hand corner of the screen, staring right back at the viewer. David Ortiz was semi-entertaining during his early appearance, while Jeff Passan took a nice shot at Kay’s head size. But most of the time, the telecast consisted of Kay interviewing A-Rod, and A-Rod interviewing their guests.
During the second inning, Kay repeatedly kept peppering A-Rod about his myriad of professional missteps. The tone of the conversation indicated they were getting ready to welcome on Dr. Anthony Bosch.
“I’m done with beating myself up over the mistakes I’ve made in the past,” A-Rod said at one point.
Roger Clemens was also granted the opportunity to address his alleged steroid use, and absence from the Hall of Fame. Kay teed him up with an impassioned defense — “you never failed a drug test” — and the Rocket blasted off from there.
“We did it the right way,” Clemens said. “It’s really, really hard to prove a negative, but we did. We proved it, and when you have people who say stuff about you that isn’t true, and they come at you from different angles, my mom says in the past — I was raised by two string women — my grandma said if you’re gonna be a ditch digger, be the best damn ditch digger you can be.”
There was something remarkable about watching Clemens vociferously push back against the steroid allegations against him on MLB’s signature weekly telecast. It’s a reminder of how much the culture regarding performance-enhancing drugs has shifted. PED users — confirmed or accused — are no longer personas non grata.
Instead, they’re free to star in their own alternative “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast, where they make trite jokes with top Mariners prospect Julio Rodriguez about his facial hair. “I’m jealous. I see you’re 21 years old. You have a mustache. I’m in my mid-40s and I still can’t grow one,” A-Rod said to the prized outfielder.
“I don’t know. You might be able to … you might. You can never lose the hope, come on,” Julio Rodriguez responded.
Then A-Rod told him to connect and talk hitting with Edgar Martinez.
The ManningCast worked so well, because Peyton and Eli are normal people whom you can imagine hanging out and casually watching a game with each other — cracking plenty of jokes along the way. The same can’t be said for A-Rod, who is tragically disingenuous.
The KayRod cast will only be as good as its namesakes.