Craig Carton just fired a shot across Michael Kay’s bow.
The WFAN afternoon drive host did not mention his ESPN Radio New York rival by name. But there was no question who he was trashing on-air around 4 pm. Tuesday.
Carton and partner Evan Roberts were riffing about missteps by Yankees manager Aaron Boone in the ALCS when Carton pivoted.
“Do you think that you can compare the decision to go to [reliever Lou Trivino in Game 3] to the decision that Abraham Lincoln made, not having his main security guy at [Ford’s Theater] the night he was assassinated?” Carton said.
“There are people out there who are going crazy, who are now comparing the Yankees’ decision to play that mental gymnastics video of the Yankees blowing the 3-0 lead to Boston to Abraham Lincoln being assassinated. Because that makes a lot of sense. … “What? Lincoln? What? Hang them up, brother. Lincoln?”
Added Roberts: “I’d like some of that smoking.”
The context: Kay ripped the Yankees for using highlights of the 2004 ALCS collapse against the Red Sox for inspiration before Game 4 during his Monday show. During his rant, he said, “It would be like somebody from Lincoln’s family, and you’re trying to teach them about shootings in theaters and how to avoid it. I mean, are you out of your mind?”
Carton would argue Kay is.
“That’s why sports talk radio gets a bad rap,” Carton said. “For stupidity like that.”
This is not the first time Kay has brought world history into a sports rant in an arguably-offensive manner. He made references to slavery and the Holocaust in 2006 when debating a caller about the merits of broadcasters acknowledging a pitcher’s in-progress perfect game on air.
Carton’s digs come with the release of the first month of results for the fall ratings book right around the corner. And the stations have access to the numbers throughout the process. It’s hard to imagine Carton would go at Kay like this if WFAN was not continuing its recent dominance. So this may be a sign things are still going well for him and Roberts.
James Kratch can be reached at james.kratch@xlmedia.com
