Being a Major League Baseball play-by-play announcer involves demands that extend well beyond merely calling balls and strikes. It necessitates a deep understanding of your team’s players, including their quirks, interests, and unique characteristics. When YES color commentator Paul O’Neill curiously asked, “What do we got going here, Michael?” as cameras captured New York Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s custom Japanese anime One Piece cleats, 64-year-old announcer Michael Kay quickly took the opportunity to dive into the details.
In which Michael Kay explains the characters and plot of Japanese manga and anime series “One Piece” to Paul O’Neill
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing.bsky.social) April 1, 2025 at 4:54 PM
“Well, that is, um… He wears a lot of things from an anime series called One Piece,” Kay explained during Chisholm’s second inning at-bat. “On his arm band, you see Monkey D. Luffy, also known as Straw Hat Luffy, who is the captain and founder of the Straw Hat Pirates.” A bemused O’Neill replied, “Nice.” Kay continued, “…And protagonist of the anime and manga series One Piece. I know you were asking about this, Paul, but Monkey D. Luffy has the properties of rubber after accidentally consuming one of the devil fruits.” “…okay,” O’Neill managed in response. “I’m glad you explained that. Jazz is a big anime fan,” Kay added.
At that moment, clubhouse reporter Meredith Marakovits shared an interesting fact. “Now, guys, you know that big chain he wears sometimes? The hat? That’s from the same series. He even has that design in his teeth.” Kay inquired, “In his teeth, really?” “Yes! I thought it was new this spring. I think he got it at the end of last year. I asked him about it, and I was like, ‘Wow, I haven’t seen that before.’ A lot of diamonds,” she detailed as Chisholm struck out. “That’s up close and personal,” O’Neill remarked, to which Marakovits reiterated, “A lot of diamonds.”
Jazz Chisholm Jr. is playing in full One Piece gear 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/CpJsAW0184
— MLB (@MLB) March 29, 2025
The custom Air Jordan 1 cleats were designed by 13-year-old NY-based artist @EvanTheArtist10. As Kay mentioned, they are just one of the One Piece items that the Yankees star has been flaunting at the start of the season.
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If O’Neill is interested in learning more about One Piece, he has quite a bit of catching up to do—he’s currently about 1,122 episodes behind.
