Michael Kay, YES Network personalities to star on ‘Bronx Buds’ cartoon

Like countless other kids in the 1960s and 70s, Michael Kay spent his Saturday mornings glued to the TV for weekly showings of his favorite cartoons, “The Flintstones” and “The Jetsons.”

That made it an easy answer for the Yankees broadcaster when creative directors at YES Network approached him about appearing on Season 2 of “Bronx Buds,” the baseball-themed animated children’s series that streams on the Gotham Sports App.

“I mean, Saturday was like a big deal,” Kay told The Post. “That’s why I love what YES is doing, bringing this back…to give a new generation of kids something to watch, this one baseball-centered, which is two things I love. I think it’s gonna be great.”

Kay will play a significant role in the upcoming season alongside several fellow YES Yankees voices: analyst John Flaherty, clubhouse reporter Meredith Marakovitz and studio host Nancy Newman. 

The show, which returns for Season 2 on Aug. 9, follows the adventures of a Bronx-based youth baseball team called the Bronx Buds, featuring main characters Riv, Bash and Oscar.

Kay was tapped to play a heroic character who saves the Bronx Buds, while Flaherty acts as a baseball legend and Marakovitz and Newman are reporters. 

Kay joked he was a “little jealous” the producers didn’t tap him for the first season — especially because studio analyst Jack Curry got a cameo — but that it was “pretty cool” when he was asked this time around.

Kay, the Yankees broadcaster since the network debuted in 2002, did his voiceovers from the network’s studios in Stamford, Conn. in March, working with a producer and director remotely over a Zoom call. 

For Kay, it was a foray into a new side of the media industry — even if the 64-year-old talks into a microphone for a living. 

The director and producer didn’t brief Kay on the plot, but they would have the broadcaster read his lines over the Zoom call, telling him when to be more demonstrative, or goofy, or serious. 

“You look at it on the TV and see, ‘Well, it’s a cartoon,’” Kay said. “But it’s really detailed, how much effort and time they put into it. And obviously the people that are doing it, it’s a labor of love, so they want to make it just right.”