Yankees broadcasters crack 'Seinfeld' jokes as team faces Astros pitcher named Jason Alexander

Fox News

6 days ago

Worlds collided on Sunday in the Bronx when the New York Yankees faced a Houston Astros pitcher named Jason Alexander.
The irony, of course, is that the actor named Jason Alexander played the team's "assistant to the traveling secretary" in the hit show, "Seinfeld."
So, as Alexander, the pitcher, was warming up, Yankees announcer Michael Kay and his color commentator, former Yankee and Seinfeld guest Paul O'Neill, gave their scouting report on Alexander, using lines from the show.
The notes on the scouting report were, "It's not you, it's me" as a nod to Alexander not knowing he was pitching on Sunday until the day before, "the sea was angry" to make note of his scoreless outing against the Miami Marlins, and "worlds are colliding" due to the obvious nature of the circumstances.
O'Neill made mention that the Yankees are giving away a George Costanza bobblehead on Aug. 21.
Alexander actually took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning - he was the winning pitcher in Houston's 7-1 victory.
O'Neill appeared in the episode "The Wink" in Season 7 as just one of several Yankees to be on the hit series throughout its dominance in the 1990s. It's the one where Kramer (played by Michael Richards) promises a boy in the hospital that he would get the right fielder to hit two home runs in a game in an effort to try to get back a birthday card for Steinbrenner, signed by members of the Yankees, that he had sold.
The former outfielder said during the broadcast that he still gets residuals - last year, he said they were "like 57 bucks," but in his most recent check, he said he cracked the $100 milestone.
"They must be playing [the episodes] more," O'Neill joked.
"It's not big time. It's a good reminder, though, that you were on the show. It's kinda cool," he said last year.
In addition to O'Neill, Yankees players Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Danny Tartabull and manager Buck Showalter also appeared on the series, while a stunt double was used for Steinbrenner, who was voiced by co-creator Larry David. The real Steinbrenner did film a scene that was never used, but he was never as open as the fake one to his mistake in trading Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps.
O'Neill had 15 multi-homer games in his career, including hitting three dingers on Aug. 31, 1995 (the fictitious game in the "Seinfeld" episode was not one of them, as an apparent inside-the-park home run was ruled a triple and he scored on an error).
The Yankees retired his No. 21 in 2022. Pitcher LaTroy Hawkins wore it in 2008, seven years after O'Neill retired, but was booed because of it, leaving it to be unofficially retired until it was finally honored in Monument Park.
O'Neill played for the Yankees from 1993 to 2001, after spending his previous eight seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.