Seinfeld Talks Keith Hernandez Intimidation, Quarantine Life and More on Kimmel
East Hampton resident and comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld has the status and demeanor to intimidate all kinds of people, but it turns out Mets great and fellow Hamptonite Keith Hernandez actually managed to intimidate him.
“The most intimidated I ever was, was when Keith Hernandez came onto my TV series,” Seinfeld said on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday. “I had never met a baseball player,” the die-hard Mets fan added, recalling filming his famous 1992 Seinfeld episode, “The Boyfriend,” featuring the World Series-winning first-baseman. “I remember the morning Keith Hernandez was coming on my show, changing my shirt three times,” Seinfeld continued, pointing out, “It was ’92—they had just won [the World Series] in ’86, so he was still a real idol of mine.”
Continuing with baseball, Seinfeld and Kimmel also rated their own and others’ ceremonial opening pitches for the Mets at Citi Field, but they also talked of life during the COVID-19 quarantine and much more.
During the conversation with Kimmel, conducted remotely via video conferencing software, Seinfeld revealed he was speaking from his East Hampton home where viewers could see numerous vinyl comedy albums displayed on large, white bookshelves behind him. Seinfeld named some—including Rob Reiner and Mel Brooks, Lenny Bruce, Robert Klein, and George Carlin—but eagle-eyed comedy fans could also pick out records from Groucho Marx, Monty Python and others. As the shelf was surely designed to demonstrate, Seinfeld is, above all, a stand-up comic, and he’s got a brand new special to prove it.
Netflix debuted his latest hour-long set, Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill, on Tuesday, May 5. It’s streaming now.