When legendary Yankees public address annoucner Bob Sheppard died in 2010, there was simultaneously an air of somber inevitably and at least a little surprise. Yes, he had walked this earth for a remarkable 99 years, but how could the man that Reggie Jackson once dubbed “The Voice of God” be gone? He was Yankee Stadium, even if the old ballpark was all but gone itself by that point. It didn’t feel right. It was like waking up one day to learn that the Statue of Liberty’s torch had vanished.
This morning, I felt the same way when I learned of the passing of incomparable Yankees radio voice John Sterling. WFAN, his broadcast home for the last decade-plus of his long career in New York, just announced the sad news a little over half an hour ago.
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It’s not at all unique to say that Sterling was one of the voices of my childhood and right there as I grew into an older baseball fan. When you’re on the job for 36 years, you’re part of the same story for such a large number of fans that it could fill many stadiums. We knew that he was corny. We knew that he sometimes took a tad too long to remind fans who could only listen what the score actually was. We knew that the home run calls could border on ridiculous. (Even if I ranked all 144 them upon his retirement, like a madman.) And we knew how much his “THEEEEEE YANKEES WIN” would grate on just about everyone else.
But it didn’t matter. John Sterling was not doing the game for the random opposing fan in Cleveland. He was doing it for us, and in the only way that he could: with a smooth, deep voice, and with enough Broadway references that could only be described as “something sort of grandish.”
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Sterling was behind the mic from 1989—long enough ago that the Yankees were in the midst of four consecutive losing seasons—until 2024, when the travel got to be too exhausting for him in his mid-to-late eighties. He was there for Don Mattingly and Dave Righetti. He was there for Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams. He was there for Hideki Matsui and Alex Rodriguez. He was there for Robinson Canó and CC Sabathia. And he was there for Aaron Judge and Juan Soto — both of whom weren’t even born when he began his radio gig for the Yankees.
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The wild thing about Sterling is that his career goes back even further. After all, he was already 51 when he entered the Yankees’ radio booth! The New York City native hosted a show on WMCA in the 1970s, and you can still find recordings of him working with iconic baseball voice Mel Allen and reacting to now-very-distant Yankees news.
Sterling also lent his voice to other sports’ radio broadcasts, with the ascendant Islanders and the Nets. Before the joining the Yankees’ booth he spent most of the 1980s with Turner Sports down in Atlanta, covering the Hawks and Braves. He has a wonderful legacy of his own down there, including calling one of the most shocking and delirious home runs in MLB history, reliever Rick Camp in the 18th inning of a much-delayed July 4th marathon with the Mets.
It was disappointing when Sterling retired abruptly just over two years ago, but no one would ever blame him. He poured everything into the job and making it a one-of-a-kind product, establishing memories that will last a lifetime, from “It is high, it is far, it is gone!” and “BERNIE GOES BOOM!” to “Well Suzyn, I thank you,” and “ALL RISE.” I just wish that the Yankees could have given him a Monument Park plaque—like the ones granted to Sheppard and Allen—while he was still around to enjoy it. He at least got to hear the crowd applaud for him on John Sterling Day at the stadium on April 20, 2024. And it was so appreciated that he briefly returned to the booth for that year’s run to the AL pennant. That was a nice “cherry on top”-style last hurrah.
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Something Sterling also always said was “You can’t predict baseball, Suzyn.” Although that’s mostly true of life as well, I knew that this day would, of course, sadly come at some point. And I knew that I would be very sad, because the modern Voice of the Yankees has spoken his final words.
We here at Pinstripe Alley send our best wishes out to his children and everyone who knew him around the Yankees. I have little doubt that Suzyn Waldman, Michael Kay, Meredith Marakovits, Ryan Ruocco, and more—especially reporters on the Yankees’ beat—are hurting upon hearing this news.
John Sterling was an absolute joy to have in our lives. Rest well, old friend.
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