Last night’s premiere of the Yankees’ World Series film at the Ziegfeld Theatre was the rah-rah affair you’d expect it to be. The fans in attendance cheered at just about every cheerable moment — and if you’ve ever seen one of these films before, you know there’s one every two minutes or so. And unlike most swanky movie premieres, the red carpet here was reserved for Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman (both clad in jeans), the Yankees’ announcers, and, weirdly, a solitary non-baseball celebrity: Timothy Busfield. (Chalk it up to Thanksgiving week, we guess.) Plus, they were selling beer in the lobby. But somehow, Michael Kay found a way to play Debbie Downer during his pre-film remarks.
After John Sterling (who did a live rendition of his hit catchphrase, “Theeee Yankees win!” for the lucky attendees) and Suzyn Waldman spoke, Kay took the podium to introduce the World Series trophy. As the trophy made its way to the front of the theater, lots of people stood to take photos, and Kay asked them to please take a seat. Don’t worry, said Kay, “The trophy’s not going anywhere. At least until next October.” Responded the crowd: “Booooooooo!”
We assume that Kay was trying to steer clear of sort-of guaranteeing that the Yankees would win the World Series every year in perpetuity, but it was a curious time to stop being a Yankees homer. He tried to talk his way out of it, saying something about how Cashman would now be setting out to build the team that he hoped would win it again, but Cashman wasn’t helping. “Wow, can’t we just enjoy this for a while?” he said. Go ahead, Brian, enjoy it. Michael Kay can’t stop you.