Michael Kay and Bobby Murcer got their Riveras mixed up yesterday and it led to an embarrassing moment on the YES broadcast of the Yankees-Angels game.
With L.A.’s Juan Rivera batting in the second yesterday, Kay brought up the incident in spring training of 2002 when, he said, Juan Rivera was caught stealing a glove out of Derek Jeter’s locker and selling it to a Seattle memorabilia dealer.
Murcer chimed in by calling it one of the “unforgivable sins” in baseball, and when Rivera grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, Kay said, “There’s a little payback for Jeter.”
A few minutes later, with the Angels still batting, a highly humbled Kay admitted he had goofed.
“I just made a terrible mistake, Bobby,” Kay said. “It’s Ruben Rivera who took the glove, not Juan. Ruben was the guy who took it, I apologize to Juan, that’s awful. I just got my Riveras all mixed up.”
Murcer said nothing.
I thought he’d pull a John Sterling and blame it on not having a monitor.
As long as Murcer didn’t say anything, that has to qualify as a happy ending.
I’m surprised Kay didn’t blame Geraldo Rivera, for godsakes.
Damn carbon monoxide detectors!
In the spirit of fair play, it is probably time for me to acknowledge that Michael is not the inventor of the Kay guitar.
Is that Paul Sommerstein?
Sadly, I watched a good deal of that game and heard all of this live. There were so many other things I could have been doing on a Sunday afternoon to be sure – but either way, I’m still not sure if that had been Ruben Rivera that it would have been “payback for Jeter”. It struck me as the funniest thing I had heard on a Yankee broadcast in days – not funny like John Sterling “that ball is back, way back, it is…off the wall” but funny like stupid, really, really stupid. Derek Jeter would feel vindicated because one of the roughly 70 double plays he’ll likely turn this year was against a player who put him in the news in an embarrasing way? In the second inning of a game on the road in July? This would be vindication? Payback? If so, please someone send me Derek Jeter’s address, as he has an phone book I am interested in acquiring.