Yankees announcer takes issue with ‘draping sports in the flag and preaching patriotism’

New York Yankees announcer Michael Kay appeared to take issue with “wrapping sports in the flag” as Team USA stars preached patriotism during this month’s World Baseball Classic.

Paul Skenes, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge were among the players who spoke about what it meant to wear America on their chest. Team USA head coach Mark DeRosa even brought Robert J. O’Neill, the man credited with murdering terrorist Usama bin Laden, into the locker room to talk to the players before their game against Canada in the quarterfinals.

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Kay said that kind of thing made him “a little uncomfortable.”

“What worries me a little bit… I don’t like wrapping sports in the flag and preaching patriotism and bringing in SEAL Team 6. The only uniform that counts for me is what the men and women of our military wear,” he said Wednesday on ESPN radio in New York. “They decide the victories and the losses. You don’t represent me because you have the United States on your chest. I don’t believe that.”

Sports columnist Mike Lupica, who was with Kay, said bringing in a member of SEAL Team 6 was “a little iffy” for him, adding that any time politics is introduced into sports it opens up a “rabbit hole that we don’t want to go down.”

DeRosa explained earlier in the week why he brought in O’Neill.

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“That was my decision to bring him in,” DeRosa said, via Defector. “They brought it in, actually, a couple of days in Houston. It wasn’t before the Canada game. I think for me there has to be… you never want it to be lost why you’re doing this. Whatever that ‘why’ is and a lot of people, like Paul Skenes told me when he signed up for this, ‘I want to do this for every service man and woman who protects our freedom. That’s why we wear America on our chest.’

“I just thought it would be a moment to redirect and make those guys understand that even though this is an incredible event, and you get to share a locker room with the greats of the game, there’s a reason why you do it and a reason why people protect our freedom at night. I just wanted to honor that.”

Kay made similar comments about the hype of players representing their country with fervent patriotism and making it more than what it is. He said he did not believe that “international competition is a referendum on my country.”

“There are people who represent America who really represent America, and you know who those people are? The men and women of the military,” he said via Awful Anning. “That’s what it all comes down to. They decide the greatness of this country. Their sheer bravery, how they fight for freedom and risk their lives, that’s meaningful to me. For the United States to win the gold medal against Canada? Wonderful. I’m excited for them. It’s not a referendum on my country, it just isn’t.

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“But somehow, we’ve turned this into: my country is better than yours, stop it. Come on. Aren’t we getting a little absurd with this jingoistic stuff? … I’m glad everyone participated. Mark DeRosa brought in one of the Navy SEALs who was part of the group that killed Usama bin Laden. Okay, whatever motivates people … but to equate a baseball game with that, I don’t know.”