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New York Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay appeared to take issue with “wrapping sports in the flag” as Team USA stars preached patriotism during the World Baseball Classic this month.
Paul Skenes, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge were among the players who discussed what it meant to wear the USA on their chest. Team USA manager Mark DeRosa even brought in Robert J. O’Neill, the man credited with killing terrorist Osama bin Laden, into the locker room to speak to the players before their game against Canada in the quarterfinal.
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Michael Kay during the New York Yankees Old Timers Day on Aug. 24, 2024 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. (Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Kay said those types of things made him a “little uneasy.”
“The thing that makes me a little uneasy … I don’t like wrapping sports in the flag and preaching patriotism and bringing in SEAL Team 6 people. The only uniform that counts to me is the one that’s worn by the men and women of our military,” he said Wednesday on ESPN New York radio. “They decide wins and losses. You don’t represent me because you have USA on the chest. I don’t believe it.”
Sports columnist Mike Lupica, who was on with Kay, said bringing in a member of SEAL Team 6 was a “little dodgy” to him and added that anytime politics is brought in sports it opens up a “rabbit hole we don’t want to head down.”
DeRosa explained earlier in the week why he brought in O’Neill.
United States Bryce Harper celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the eighth inning in the championship game of the World Baseball Classic against Venezuela, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
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“That was my decision to bring him in,” DeRosa said, via Defector. “He was brought 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 get lost why you’re doing this. Whatever that ‘why’ is and a lot of people, like Paul Skenes said to me when he signed up for this, ‘I want to do this for every service man and woman that protects our freedom. That’s why we wear USA across our chest.’
“I just thought it would be like a time to kind of redirect and get those guys to understand that, although this is an unbelievable event and you get a chance to share a locker room with the game’s greats, there’s a reason why you’re doing 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 it is. He said that he didn’t believe that “international competition is a referendum on my country.”
United States pitcher Paul Skenes (30) delivers a pitch against the Dominican Republic during a semifinal game of the 2026 World Baseball Classic at loanDepot Park on March 15, 2026. (Sam Navarro/Imagn Images)
“There are people that represent the United States that really represent the United States, and you know who those people are? The men and women of the military,” he said, via Awful Announcing. “That’s what it all comes down to. They decide the greatness of this country. Their sheer bravery, how they fight for freedom and throw their lives on the line – that is significant to me. The United States winning the gold medal against Canada? Wonderful. Thrilled for them. Not a referendum on my country, it’s just not.
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“But somehow, we’ve turned this into, my country is better than your country – stop it. Come on. Aren’t we getting a little bit nonsensical with this jingoistic stuff? … I’m glad that everybody’s brought in. Mark DeRosa brought in one of the Navy SEAL guys that was part of the group that killed Osama Bin Laden. OK, whatever gets the people motivated … but to equate a baseball game to that, I don’t know.”