John Sterling, the legendary New York Yankees radio announcer, has died. He was 87.
Sterling’s death was confirmed Monday by the team, and Sterling’s former station, WFAN in New York.
Sterling, who started as the Yankees’ play-by-play announcer in 1989, quickly became a staple of the team’s radio broadcasts. Over the first 30 years of his career, he never missed a game, once appearing on over 5,000 straight broadcasts until eventually missing a few games in 2019. After that, Sterling started working a slightly reduced schedule during the final years of his career.
Known for his iconic player nicknames, personalized home-run calls and game-winning phrase, Sterling served as the team’s announcer until 2024, when he surprisingly retired that April due to “health concerns.”
The Yankees honored Sterling on Monday night ahead of their game with the Baltimore Orioles with a moment of silence and flowers at home plate.
While Sterling was responsible for a number of catchphrases as the Yankees’ announcer, his most famous including his signature, “The Yankees win. Theeeeeeeee Yankees win” call following team victories. He was also well-known for his home run call, in which he proclaimed, “It is high, it is far, it is gone.”
In addition to that call, Sterling also personalized a number of home-run calls for Yankees players during his 36 years on the job. His most memorable include, “An A-bomb for A-Rod,” for slugger Alex Rodriguez, and “Robbie Cano, don’t ya know,” for second baseman Robinson Cano … and many, many others.
The Yankees experienced unprecedented success over Sterling’s career, leading to him calling eight World Series, five of which were won by the Yankees. Sterling also won 12 Sports Emmys and was nominated for the Ford C. Frick award — which recognizes the game’s best broadcasters — twice.
Longtime New York Mets play-by-play announcer Howie Rose was among the first broadcasters to pay tribute to Sterling on Monday, calling him a “unique character.”
One of Sterling’s long-time broadcasting partners, Suzyn Waldman, also offered thoughts on Sterling, saying he deserves to be celebrated.
Over his career, Sterling called 5,631 total Yankees games, including 211 postseason broadcasts. Sterling became so synonymous with Yankees’ broadcasts over his career that he eventually earned the nickname, “The Voice of the Yankees.”
