Broadcasting Legend Passes

Television and Radio announcers. They make the games come to life. And for 36 years, one man did just that for New York Baseball. Whenever people think of the New York Yankees, naturally the legends of the game always come to mind. Ruth, Gerig, DiMaggio, Jeter ect. There’s one name on that list of legends who never made a play or hit a long ball. But boy did he make those moments come to life. That person was John Sterling, who for 36 years painted the word picture on the radio for one of the greatest franchises in any sport anywhere in the civilized world. Monday morning, it was announced that John had passed away at the age of 87.

The cause of his passing was due to heart failure at a hospital in Englewood New Jersey. This coming a couple of months after suffering a heart attack at the beginning of the year.

John’s career had spanned 5.420 regular season games and another 211 in the playoffs. He started calling games for the Yankees in 1989 and never missed a broadcast, a streak of 5,060 games, until missing one in 2019. He finally retired from the booth just before the start of the 2024 season. During his legendary career, John’s had quite a few different partners in the booth, ranging anywhere from Jay Johnstone (1989–1990), Joe Angel (1991), Michael Kay (1992–2001), Charley Steiner (2002–2004), and Suzyn Waldman (2005–2024). Sterling was on the air for 24 Yankees postseason trips, seven World Series appearances and five World Series titles.

Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win! It is high, it is far, it is gone! Those are the two most famous things that any baseball, or sports fan, associates with John Sterling. He also had a unique way to come up with induvial calls for players when they would go deep, or make a spectacular play, during the course of a season.

Aside from his baseball career he also had stints behind the microphone for the Washington Bullets in the NBA and even called games on the radio for the New York Islanders from 1975-78. John provided so many thrills for so many fans, love him or hate him. He left a legacy that will never be forgotten in the sports world.

John Sterling, gone but not forgotten.