Don, Hahn & Rosenberg — Hour 1: “But October”
Date: August 20, 2025
Podcast: ESPN New York
Main Theme / Purpose
This episode centers on the New York Yankees’ recent offensive explosion (notably their home run barrage), questioning whether a home-run-heavy strategy is sustainable come October playoff baseball. Amid the lightning rod of social media reaction and commentary from Michael Kay, the crew also discusses the Yankees’ internal dynamics and the Judge vs. Boone communication snafu, with digressions on fan psychology, notable baseball history, and classic “songs of the summer.”
1. The Yankees’ Home Run Barrage: “But October?”
Key Discussion Points
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Home Run High: The Yankees crushed nine home runs in one game for the second time this season. Alan Hahn brings up a stat: since 1876, teams have only hit nine+ home runs in a game seven times… and the Yankees have done it twice this year alone.
[06:51]“From 1876 to 2024… how many teams have hit nine or more home runs in a game? The Yankees have matched what happened from 1876 to 2024.” — Alan Hahn
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Alan’s Tweet and Fan Backlash: Alan tweeted a question: is this home-run-reliant approach sustainable in October against great pitching? He shares that while some fans agreed, others (Yankee “bots”) staunchly defended the HR strategy.
[02:24]“Home runs are fun. No question. It’s fun to bludgeon bad pitching. But is it sustainable as a primary strategy in October against the best teams and… pitching? That’s all I said.” — Alan Hahn
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Comparison to Celtics: Analogy to Boston Celtics’ three-heavy offense; fun when shots drop, but can fizzle when pressure amps up. [03:40]
“It’s like the Celtics shooting threes... you always know come playoff time, it’s not sustainable.” — Alan Hahn
2. Michael Kay’s Indirect “Scolding” & Postseason Home Run Debate
Key Discussion Points
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Michael Kay’s Response: Michael Kay, without naming Alan, counters the popular narrative. Kay defends the home run approach, citing analytics that suggest stringing together singles is even harder vs. postseason ace pitchers, and that a higher percentage of playoff runs are scored via the home run.
[08:12]“If you look at the percentage of runs that are scored during the regular season via the home run, it’s higher in the postseason… the analytics people put into it: it’s hard to string together hits in the regular season. That’s why you wait on a pitcher to make maybe one mistake and you hit it out.” — Michael Kay (audio played by hosts)
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Did Kay Address Alan?: Debate over whether Kay’s comments were an indirect reply to Alan’s Twitter question or a general address to critics. Alan suspects Kay at least saw the conversation.
[09:29]“That sounded eerily similar to some of the replies I had. So did I get, did I get scolded? Would you say that?” — Alan Hahn
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Randy Wilkins Rebuttal: Alan cites documentary director Randy Wilkins, who tweeted,
[10:05]“If you don’t slug in the playoffs, you’re going home. Dodgers won last year mainly because one guy went on a home run tear in the World Series ... why or how people still don’t get this?”
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Social Media Fatigue: Alan ponders quitting Twitter, noting vitriolic overreactions to reasonable questions or concerns from media/fans.
[02:09]“I’m getting closer and closer to just either deleting my Twitter completely... It’s just amazing how visceral people are with their responses.” — Alan Hahn
3. Sustained Yankees Skepticism
Key Discussion Points
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Hahn’s Reluctance to Celebrate: Even after big wins, Alan emphasizes lingering doubts: beating bad teams is expected, not evidence the team’s flaws can be fixed by playoff time.
[06:49]“They’ve twice now this season hit nine home runs in a game… but October, I just keep doing it. And maybe I’m the one that has a problem right now.” — Alan Hahn
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Rosenberg Defends Skepticism: Peter Rosenberg supports Alan, arguing “history is on your side”—Yankees’ power-first approach hasn’t consistently translated to postseason success for over a decade.
[14:12]“The evidence sides with you. To me, the onus is on other people to prove to me how you’re not right… That’s what their M.O. has been. Home runs until the postseason. And then things get very, very tricky.” — Peter Rosenberg
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Alan’s Pledge: If Yankees take 3 of 4 from the Red Sox, Alan swears he’ll show enthusiasm on Monday’s show.
[35:02]“If they take three out of four against the Red Sox this weekend, Monday I will have bells on… I will start singing a different tune.” — Alan Hahn
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Listener Responses:
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Griffin (Connecticut) calls Hahn “Mr. Negative”… Alan pushes back, tracing his concerns to a bad Red Sox series in June and explaining skepticism is warranted after repeated playoff flameouts.
[32:35]“You always are negative… why can’t you ever just be positive?” — Griffin
“I really take umbrage with what Griffin said. I don’t think I’m always negative. It all started in June…” — Alan Hahn -
Pete (Staten Island) fully agrees with Alan, criticizing launch angle obsession and emphasizing that championship Yankees teams worked counts, hit to all fields, and weren’t all-or-nothing power.
[47:00]“We can’t live and die by the home run. It’s the problem with this whole launch angle… If you live and die by the home run in the World Series, you will not win. Pitching always outweighs home run hitting.” — Pete, caller
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4. Judge-Boone Communication Snafu
Key Discussion Points
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Boone Reveals Judge’s Injury Limitations: Manager Aaron Boone told the media Judge may not throw with full strength all year—Judge did not appreciate the public comment, saying Boone hadn’t even seen him throw.
[18:20]“That got back to Judge, and Judge didn’t like it at all… For him to do that though, and make Boone look bad, I don’t like that look at all.” — Alan Hahn
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Both Sides’ Motives:
- Judge wants to project strength, avoid giving opponents “tells” for postseason strategy
- Boone was relaying what team doctors told him, maybe too honest, but not malicious
[19:03]
“I would hope privately Judge and Boone would have it out and that Judge would then tell [Boone]… I handled that wrong because I think Judge handled it poorly. …I would expect Judge to say, I’ll be fine. But Boone is just being honest.” — Alan Hahn
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Rare Disunity?: Normally, Boone and Judge are perfectly aligned in messaging, so listeners and hosts agree it’s newsworthy when this breaks down.
[22:24]“The weird thing is… them not being on the same page is unusual. That lack of communication to me is what makes me go — really?” — Peter Rosenberg
5. Digressions: Song of the Summer, Little League Foul Ball
Notable Segments
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Song of the Summer: Alan is prepping a Billboard-verified top-five “songs of the summer” of this century (segment begins [29:16]). Peter reminisces on 1984’s list; they banter about Ghostbusters (“terrible song”) and Prince trivia:
[31:22]“Isn’t it crazy there’s no bass in the song [When Doves Cry]?” — Peter Rosenberg
“I did not notice that… Oh, just learned something.” — Alan Hahn -
Little League World Series: Breaking news from Fairfield, CT game—a foul ball shatters an ESPN camera; comical relaying of in-game scenes.
[45:43]“Shatters an ESPN camera… the camera lens cracks. So, they had to stop the game… glass all over the warning track.” — Alan Hahn
6. Other Memorable Moments & Quotes
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On Social Media Punditry:
[12:23]“There was a lot of home runs last night. I was watching, saying, ‘boy, that’s a lot of home runs,’ and that’s it. And then let people wait.” — Alan Hahn
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On Yankees’ Rotation of Hitting Philosophy:
[47:48]“They are trying to steal more bases. Caballero’s made a big difference. Volpe’s very good… they’ve got more guys that can run. At least now they have a little more athleticism.” — Alan Hahn
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Classic Yankees Power Outliers:
Discussing “juice ball” home run outbursts:
[43:05]“In 1995, Brady Anderson hit 16 home runs. In 1996 he hit 50. In 1997, he hit 18.” — Peter Rosenberg
Notable Quotes — Speaker Attribution & Timestamps
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On home-run reliance vs. playoffs:
“Home runs are fun. No question. It’s fun to bludgeon bad pitching. But is it sustainable as a primary strategy in October against the best teams and most likely the best pitching? That’s all I said.”
— Alan Hahn [02:24] -
On Michael Kay’s rebuttal:
“If you look at the percentage of runs that are scored during the regular season via the home run, it’s higher in the postseason… the best pitchers in the game when they’re on, don’t make that many mistakes where they’ll give up three or four hits in a row.”
— Michael Kay (audio) [08:12] -
On postseason doubts:
“It just worries me... this is good, but October comes, and when October comes, this is all going away.”
— Alan Hahn [13:34] -
On being fair but critical:
“You can call Alan a sort of rain on your parade guy if you want. Hard to get too hyped up after one good night of baseball.”
— Peter Rosenberg [24:10] -
On launch angle and playoff hitting:
“We can’t live and die by the home run... if you live and die by the home run in the World Series, you will not win. Pitching always outweighs home run hitting. You are 1000% correct.”
— Pete, caller [47:00] -
On social media and sports:
“I’m getting closer and closer to just either deleting my Twitter completely … It’s just amazing how visceral people are with their responses.”
— Alan Hahn [02:09] -
On Yankees’ former teams:
“You remember that team like two, three years ago where they were all bodybuilders? Nobody could run. It was embarrassing.”
— Alan Hahn [48:00]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- [02:24] — Alan’s controversial home-run tweet
- [03:40] — Celtics analogy & offensive “sustainability”
- [06:51] — Yankees’ historic home-run game stat
- [08:12] — Michael Kay’s playoff home run argument (audio)
- [13:34] — Hahn’s playoff pessimism: “But October”
- [18:20] — Judge/Boone miscommunication, injury details
- [22:24] — Rosenberg on internal Yankees messaging
- [29:16] — “Songs of the Summer” Billboard list banter
- [32:35] — Griffin (CT) calls out Alan for negativity
- [35:02] — Alan’s pledge to change tune with Red Sox series win
- [45:43] — Fairfield Little League camera-smash story
- [47:00] — Pete (Staten Island) on launch angle, hitting philosophy
Summary Flow
The episode threads a common tension familiar to New York sports fans: the collision of exuberance after a dominant win and the ever-present shadow of postseason history and disappointment. Alan Hahn stands by his caution, repeatedly stressing that “October baseball” is a different animal, and that the Yankees’ reliance on home runs, while spectacular now, gives him pause when imagining matchups against premier playoff pitching. Rosenberg validates Hahn’s skepticism, pointing to years of similar playoff letdowns, while callers split between “enjoy it now!” and deeper, old-school criticisms of the team’s offensive approach.
Michael Kay’s impassioned defense of the HR-analytics approach is dissected without malice, while Judge and Boone’s rare communication hiccup is explored as a sign of the immense internal pressure and ultra-tight playoff race.
As always, the show features sharp, knowledgeable banter, baseball history callbacks, and the kind of rapid cultural pivots—from musical trivia to Little League dramatics—that keep ESPN New York an engaging, authentic voice for the city’s sports scene.
Final Thoughts
- “But October”—the phrase, the mood, and the episode’s thesis. Hahn and the crew capture the uneasy balance of fleeting baseball euphoria and the unforgiving ledger of Yankee postseason failures, all with humor, candor, and the best “fan-adjacent” arguments in the city.
For complete context, discussion, and entertainment, listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts.