STERLING VOICE

For 36 years New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling described action on the baseball field so millions in his audience could watch the action through his sonorous voice. Sterling died Monday, age 87. 

I was not a regular to Sterling’s broadcasts, but we all are familiar with his authoritative voice and his banter with boothmates Michael Kay, Charley Steiner, and most memorably Suzyn Waldman. He embodied excellence and longevity. During his tenure, the Yankees emerged as its modern dynasty under manager Joe Torre, shortstop Derek Jeter, and dominant closer Mariano Rivera, among many others.  

Sterling became the Yankees play-by-play announcer in 1989 and went on to call 5,060 regular-season games in a row, with a further 211 more postseason games called in that streak. After he missed his first Yankees game in 2019 he had five more years of calls, bringing his total to 5,631 Yankees games. He was on the mic for eight World Series appearances. 

John Sterling
1938-2026

Image from @Yankees

Generations of Yankees fans associate Sterling’s voice with their team and with winning. It is a wonder of radio that these emotional ties develop and persist. A voice lives on in memory and represents all the stories it told. Catch phrases and vocal tics become touchstones and beloved quirks. If you listened to Sterling, especially as a kid, he is yours and he is the best.

A trusted voice beckons the past into the present. It is familiar and comforting. It can turn even the most hard-bitten New Yorker into a provincial sentimentalist. John Sterling, for so many, is their New York, is their Voice of the Yankees. 

For the rest of us he represented Park Avenue, even if he worked in the Bronx. I did not listen to him every day but there was no way to miss his place with the Yankees. With his sharp suit and tie, his New York diction, and his authoritative timbre, Sterling exuded Class with a capital C. 

This is the aim of all baseball broadcasters, to earn trust, to be invited into homes, and to give voice to beloved memories. 

Game over. Yankees win. Thuuuuuhhhh Yankees win.