Emotional Ken Singleton announces that Sunday's YES telecast will be it for him
Yankees analyst Ken Singleton, left, watches batting practice during a spring training workout on Feb. 26, 2015, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/Lynne Sladky
Ken Singleton will work his final game for the YES Network on Sunday, the longtime Yankees analyst said during Saturday’s Rays-Yankees game.
"I’ve been broadcasting baseball for 37 years, but the time has come to stop," he said during a six-minute farewell announcement in the top of the fourth inning during which he grew emotional at times.
Singleton, 74, said early in 2018 that that would be his final season, but he returned in 2019 and has worked a limited schedule since then.
"I’ve been doing this job for a long time, and over the years your priorities change; you have other things that mean a lot to you," Singleton said during Saturday’s telecast. "I’ve enjoyed every single minute of it."
Singleton thanked the Steinbrenner family, the managers, coaches and players with whom he has worked over the years and his YES colleagues, past and present. "It’s just been a wonderful ride, to say the least," he said.
Singleton choked up when addressing YES play-by-play man Michael Kay, who was seated alongside him in the Yankee Stadium TV booth.
"Lastly, I can’t overestimate what it’s meant to work with you all these years, Michael," Singleton said. "Our job is to inform and entertain, and there’s nobody more informative than you — nobody.
"And as far as entertaining, we’ve laughed at each other’s dumb jokes over the years, and hopefully the people out there thought they were funny."
Singleton long has been personally popular among colleagues and fans. Kay called him "one of my favorite people in the world."
He was born in Manhattan and raised in Mount Vernon, attended Hofstra and began his major league career as a Met in 1970 and ’71 before moving on to the Expos and Orioles.
Singleton transitioned to broadcasting after he retired following the 1984 season and joined the Yankees’ announcing crew in 1997.
"I just want to say thank you very much from the bottom of my heart to all of you," Singleton said. "I’ve been involved with baseball since I was 4 years old, but now it’s time to move on."
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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