Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling abruptly retired yesterday after 35 years with the club, but he admitted that idea of retiring “had been on his mind for some time,” according to Christian Arnold of the N.Y. POST. Sterling appeared on WFAN's "Evan & Tiki" yesterday and indicated that it “really hit him what he wanted to do during the offseason after the Yankees missed the playoffs” and he had "plenty of free time on his hands." Sterling said, “I should have stopped then. I just don’t want to do any more work. I’ve worked for 64 years and in July I’ll be 86, so let’s face it, my time has come.” Sterling acknowledged that he “could have continued to work just home Yankee broadcasts” on WFAN if he had wanted to. However, he did not “want to get up in the afternoon and have to go somewhere.” Arnold added the MLB schedule has been something that has “caught up with Sterling over the past few seasons and had traveled less frequently with the team.” Sterling said that he was “tired of letting the baseball season dictate his life” (N.Y. POST, 4/15). Sterling said he should have announced his decision in March before the start of the season. He said, "All during the winter ... I lived the greatest life and I rued the beginning of the season. I should’ve quit then” he added, “I couldn’t be happier. I’m thrilled. I can’t wait to get off the air. I’ve been on the air since Feb. 1, 1960 and I’m tired” (SI, 4/15).
GAME HONOR: In N.Y., Gary Phillips noted Sterling “will be recognized in a pregame ceremony” on Saturday before the Yankees host the Rays at the ballpark. He will also visit the WFAN booth during the game. Both the Yankees and WFAN officials “had been expecting Sterling to retire due to health concerns.” However, the club and the radio station “left that decision up to Sterling.” Yankees TV play-by-play man Michael Kay said that Sterling was “not retiring due to health concerns, contrary to reports.” Rather, Kay cited a recent phone call with Sterling and said that the retiring announcer believes “it’s just time.” Sterling's signature “Theeeeeee Yankees win,” delivered in an “unmistakable baritone,” has capped the team’s victories for decades. His “quirky, and sometimes corny, home run calls have also been a staple.” Sterling was the voice of the Yankees’ most-recent dynasty, calling World Series wins in 1996 and three straight between 1998-2000. Phillips noted he was also on duty for the franchise’s most recent title in 2009 (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/15).
HISTORIC FIGURE: In Bergen, Pete Caldera wrote Sterling is from an age when baseball announcers had “distinct personalities, instantly identified by a greeting, or a catchphrase, or a home run call.” During his Yankees years, the distinct Sterling style -- from the personalized home run calls to his signature win call -- were a “part of each broadcast.” Sterling “came of age” when the radio announcers of MLB teams “wore jackets, ties and overcoats, pitched ads for Ballentine beer and Lucky Strike and could be heard on transistors throughout the city.” Yet, Sterling “remained very much of this era,” relevant to the Yankees Universe in 2024 (Bergen RECORD, 4/15).
SPECIAL TIME: In Buffalo, Mike Harrington wrote it “won't be the same listening to the Bronx Bombers” without the “dulcet tones of nattily attired octogenarian” Sterling behind the microphone. Harrington wrote Sterling “formed an incredible radio team” with Kay during the '90s run and has been side-by-side with Suzyn Waldman in the Yankees' radio booth since 2004. Harrington: “It's got to be one of the most unique radio partnerships in baseball history. All in the same inning, they can be informative, entertaining and infuriating. They are classic New York” (BUFFALO NEWS, 4/15). In Newark, Bob Klapisch writes Sterling was a “once (and last) in a generation.” Sterling and Waldman's generations “grew up listening not just to their play by play, but their on-air chemistry and obvious love of baseball.” Although Sterling had his critics, most fans “gravitated to his passion.” Klapisch writes when the TV cameras cut to the WFAN booth, you could see Sterling’s “fists balled up, his shoulders shaking as he put the final touch on a Yankees victory.” Klapisch: “That’s why the folks who mocked Sterling failed to grasp his charm. He was human enough to love the Yankees. He wasn’t ashamed to get angry when they lost” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 4/16).
