John Sterling, longtime radio voice of the Yankees, dies at 87
You couldn’t grow up a New York Yankees fan during the prime Core Four Era and not know John Sterling’s name.
His booming, bombastic baritone was oddly soothing. His enthusiasm part historian, part game show host. My dad always used to joke that Sterling looked like the perfect, smarter mashup of Alex Trebek and Pat Sajak. Especially when the guy had his glasses on and hosted “Yankeeography” on YES Network.
Sterling passed away Monday morning. He was 87 years old.
Born John Shloss in New York City, Sterling worked in broadcasting for nearly two decades before joining the Yankees’ radio team at WABC in 1989. Sterling called basketball for the then-Baltimore Bullets, and then returned to New York to cover a variety of teams, namely the NHL’s New York Islanders. He then moved to Atlanta for most of the 1980s to do play-by-play for both the Braves and Hawks.
In fact, in 1985, it was in Atlanta that one of Sterling’s more forgotten calls took place: Braves pitcher Rick Camp’s game-tying 18th inning home run against the Mets.
But it was in New York that Sterling truly gained legend status. In his prime, whenever you heard “Swung on and HIT IN THE AIR TO DEEP…”, you knew it was time. And then, the inevitable:
“That ball is HIGH. It is FAR. It. Is. GONE! A home run for…,” before a wordy pun involving the player’s name. Baseball plus dad jokes in the best way. Some of the best including:
“You’re on the MARK, Teixeira!”
“Georgie JUICES one,” for Jorge Posada.
“Bernie [Williams] goes boom!”
“It’s an A-BOMB…from A-ROD!”
And, more recently: “All rise! Here comes the JUDGE!”
Yes, John Sterling arguably became a punchline towards the end of his career. His reads on fly balls faded as he aged, those “It is HIGH, it is FAR” calls now capped by “It. Is. Caught at the wall.”
But regardless. The last four decades of Yankees history have one common denominator: John Sterling’s voice on the radio on WABC, WCBS, WFAN, whichever AM setting the Yankees called home. His baritone boom was still soothing even as he lost his fastball behind the mic.
And what a list of broadcast partners too. Former outfielder Jay Johnstone. YES Network lead play-by-play man Michael Kay, who worked with Sterling for nearly a decade before YES launched in 2002. Former Sportscenter anchor and current Dodgers radio play-by-play man Charley Steiner. And, finally, nearly two decades with Suzyn Waldman and birthing the immortal phrase “That’s baseball, Suzyn!”
Sterling scaled back his schedule after the pandemic, his last truly full season being in 2019. He started scaling back in summer 2022, working home and otherwise close games exclusively until his abrupt retirement in 2024. He did, however, return to the booth for the postseason. Sterling’s last ever game was the Yankees’ Game 5 loss to the Dodgers in the World Series.
Needless to say, the tributes online have been significant, particularly from Sterling’s New York Mets counterpart, Howie Rose:
Sterling suffered a heart attack back in January, though no cause of death has been given.
“The heart is fine,” he said back in February.
Dave Sims, a former WFAN veteran, took over for Sterling last season after years as the voice of the Seattle Mariners. He’s done a fine job, but Sterling just had that “it” factor. Not even Howie Rose’s “And you can put it in the books” touches Sterling’s litany of catchphrases. There really might not be another like him ever again.
And now, one more time just for posterity:
Ballgame over, Yankees win! THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA..YANKEES…WIN!
Josh Benjamin has been a staff writer at ESNY since 2018. He has had opinions about everything, especially the Yankees and Knicks. He co-hosts the “Bleacher Creatures” podcast and is always looking for new pieces of sports history to uncover, usually with a Yankee Tavern chicken parm sub in hand.
