John Sterling Brought Fun to Every Game He Called for Yankees

Even when legendary Yankee broadcaster John Sterling had passed, the team still played a Prerecorded broadcast of his classic call after the Yankees win the night of May 4. “Theeeee Yankees Win!

It was a fitting tribute, although of course more should be done to honor his amazing run.

“John treasured his role as the voice of the New York Yankees, and his enthusiasm for the art of broadcasting perfectly complemented our city and our fans,” the Yankees said in a statement. “The symmetry between John and his audience was both undeniable and magical, and his signature calls will resonate for as long as we put on pinstripes–especially after every Yankees win.”

At their best, baseball announcers come to be seen as family friends, much more so than the broadcasters in any other sport. In part, that is because baseball, at 162 regular season games plus post seasons games is the longest of all professional sports. Baseball is also special because of the often languid pace of the game with dead spots and interludes which force a broadcaster to animate the play-by-play as they wait to share the thrill of victory and agony of defeat with all of us.

John Sterling understood this point–and so much more–during his 36 years in the Yankees radio booth. At one point, he had called 5,060 consecutive games in a run that included five World Series championships and seven American League pennants. He understood, too, that sports is show biz at its core. The fans need and expect and demand the announcers give more than information. We fans require an experience. And he was famous for his home run calls that started almost on a whim with a call on Bernie Williams: “Bernie goes boom! Bern, baby, Bern!” The calls would come to include other classics. “It’s a Jeter jolt!” for Derek Jeter to “The Giambino!” for Jason Giambi, “A thrilla from Godzilla!” for Hideki Matsui and perhaps his most famous: “It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod!” for Alex Rodriguez.

Ace Storyteller

Working the radio side, where fans listening in their home or driving their car or lounging on the beach or poolside never saw what Sterling was seeing on the field. This afforded him an opportunity to be an ace storyteller. He supplied the extra information that radio listeners craved with a fun and spontaneous delivery. It was an essential combination that made John Sterling games so iconic.

There was pomp and circumstance, showmanship and also details: “It is HIGH. It is FAR” as he hyped the trajectory of a baseball heading out of the park.

Occasionally, he’d launch into the home run shtick only to have to suddenly say, with a lot less verve, “And it is CAUGHT.” But even when he screwed up, it was fine. We did more than forgive these foibles. We celebrated each Sterling-ism.

He was a man of the moment and he did not pretend to be perfect. He did not try to be smooth. Broadcast professors at Syracuse or Fordham or USC would probably groan at the way Sterling called a game. He communicated excitement, the wonder of being at the ballpark and experiencing the possibility that something might happen that he and the rest of us had never seen before.

Given the Yankees penchant for miracles over the past 30 years, Sterling had his share of them. My favorite Sterling broadcast occurred late in the 2001 World Series, Yankees versus the Arizona Diamondbacks. The tense series was tied two games apiece. Adding to the festivities, this would be the final game played in Yankee Stadium during that season, with the action soon to be shifting to Arizona’s ballpark for games six and seven. Plus, it was going to be Paul O’Neill’s last game played at Yankee Stadium, as The Warrior was planning to retire at the end of the 2001 season.

The night before, Tino Martinez hit a dramatic two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning to force extra innings. When Derek Jeter hit a solo shot to win the game, seconds after the stroke of Nov. 1 he came to be forever known as “Mr. November.”

Again, in game five, the Yankees were down to their final out against Diamondbacks relief pitcher Byung-hyun Kim, who had given up the Martinez blast. Third baseman Scott Brosius strode to home plate. Then he duplicated Tino’s heroic escapade by hitting a home run of his own, deep to left field, to rescue the Yankees and force extra innings. Sterling declared: “I DON’T BELIEVE IT!!”

Those four words made the difference for radio fans. Not only did we known at once that Brosius had connected and hit one of baseball’s all-time most improbably home runs, we had the added pleasure of knowing that grizzled John Sterling, who had seen it all, was as shocked and delighted as we were.

How to Honor Sterling

The Yankees said that starting May 18, the players will wear a memorial patch on their uniforms for the rest of the 2026 season. But there is already talk that he should get one of the historic plaques among the centerfield monuments where in addition to Yankee greats there are already plaques for legendary broadcaster Mel Allen as well as Phil Rizzuto, who also had a hall of fame career as a Yankee shortstop before getting behind the mic. Does Sterling deserve a center field plaque at Yankee Stadium? You bet, he does. Yankee fans will want to celebrate his rich legacy as he takes his place alongside so many of the players that he celebrated during the go-go Jeter-Mariano Rivera-Bernie Williams-Joe Torre-Paul O’Neill-Tino-Jorge Posada-Andy Pettitte years.

There should be no debate about this point.

The Yankees should leap to hold a ceremony fit to honor and thank the man who seemed to be a friend to every Yankee fan, John Sterling.