WATCH: A Radio Call About Joey Gallo Sent Don La Greca Into An All-Time Rant About Not Needing His Co-Host Michael Kay And It's Tremendous
That my friends is peak NY sports talk radio. That's the dream money rant right there. You may ask yourself how does this happen? How does an ESPN radio show about New York sports somehow spiral into that kind of tirade. The beauty of this Don La Greca freakout is it came via a caller hailing from my hometown in Manalapan, NJ, talking about Joey Gallo.
La Greca questioned why Yankee fans are constantly complaining about Gallo despite their incredible first half of the season. How could Yankee fans have anything to be mad about with this record? He can't understand it. The caller said it proved Don would be nothing without the normal host of the show Michael Kay, who was out for the day. That led to a complete nuclear meltdown from La Greca explaining every achievement in his life he's accomplished without Kay. It's spectacular.
"I'VE GOT A PODCAST THAT'S IN THE TOP 50 IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE PLANET, NO MICHAEL KAY! I'VE GOT TWO KIDS AND A WIFE SEVENTEEN YEARS, GUESS WHAT NO MICHAEL KAY! I'VE GOT HAIR PEOPLE WOULD DIE TO HAVE, MICHAEL KAY? NOTHING! I'M A FABULOUS DRIVER, MICHAEL KAY GOT NOTHING TO DO WITH IT, I'M ONE OF THE BEST FRIENDS YOU CAN EVER HAVE IN YOUR LIFE, ZERO TO DO WITH MICHAEL KAY"
"YOU HAVE NO COMMENTS!"
full video here below
By the way, while the caller was completely wrong to say the Yankees don't beat good teams, he wasn't wrong at all to say Gallo hurts the team. He hurts the team by being an automatic out in the lineup and weakening the lower third of the order. He takes up a roster spot from someone like a Miguel Andujar. He's going to force the Yankees to attach a decent prospect along with him just to get him off the roster. That's hurting the team, I don't know how else to say it. He's a terrible, terrible hitter who cannot be relied upon for one single thing. When he does anything good it's a genuine surprise. Just because the rest of the team is so good doesn't mean he gets a pass and can skate on by.
He's on the team until he's not. Until that moment Yankee fans have every right to complain when he gets playing time, especially against teams like Houston and Boston. He also hasn't been a gold glove fielder for the Yankees. He's a better RF for sure, but for most of the year he was out in left where his defense was subpar. It is paramount for the Yankees to have the number one record in the AL come playoff time in order to secure home field. That lead over Houston is only 4.5 games at the moment. That can slip away quickly and every time Gallo is out there you're basically playing a man down. How that isn't hurting the team is beyond me.
Great call, good job Mike from Manalapan for causing all that. Great irrational rant from Don.