John Sterling, the legendary radio voice of the New York Yankees, has died at age 87, the team confirmed on Monday, May 4. A cause of death has not been released.
Sterling was New York’s play-by-play man from 1989 to 2024, a tenure that included 5,060 consecutive games from his hiring until 2019. In that time, he called every game of former captain Derek Jeter’s career and broadcast five Yankees World Series titles with an additional three appearances in the Fall Classic.
“We are saddened by the passing of former New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling,” Major League Baseball said in a statement on Monday. “Through his unique style and passionate play-by-play calls, Sterling endeared himself to generations of players and fans as the radio voice of the Yankees from 1989 to 2024.”
Sterling was beloved by Yankees fans but polarizing to the rest of the baseball world. Critics knocked him for theatrics and occasional on-air miscues, including his tendency to break into a home run call for a fly ball that dies at the warning track. In the Bronx, he is remembered for his personalized home run calls for each Yankees player and his iconic “theeeeee Yankees win” call.
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Before joining the Yankees’ radio booth, Sterling called games for the Atlanta Braves and the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Prior to that, he worked for the New York Nets, New York Islanders and Baltimore Bullets.
“I am a very blessed human being,” Sterling said when he announced his retirement in 2024. “I have been able to do what I wanted, broadcasting for 64 years. As a little boy growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, I was able to broadcast the Yankees for 36 years.”
He worked with several partners during his time with the Yankees, including current YES Network play-by-play man Michael Kay and Suzyn Waldman, his “New York Yankees Compañera,” whom he worked with from 2004 to the end of his career.
“There will never be another person like that, to have that kind of love for a team and that kind of love for his fan base,” Waldman, 79, told MLB.com.
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She also posted a tribute to Sterling via Instagram, writing, “Thank you to everyone who has reached out! Very tough day, but a celebration of the life of a man who lived life exactly the way he wanted is in order!”
Current Yankees captain Aaron Judge said that Sterling’s famous home run calls became a topic of conversation among teammates, particularly when a new player would join the team.
“‘What’s John going to come up with this time?’” Judge said. “‘What’s he going to use? Will he go last name, first name, how’s he going to do this?’ He always outsmarted us to come up with something great that the fans love, and we love as players, listening to it.”
The Yankees play the final game of a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night.
