John Sterling would be thrilled if his return to Yankees' broadcast booth lands him in World Series
John Sterling, play-by-play announcer of the Yankees, speaks at a press conference before an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on April 20. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
John Sterling didn’t expect to be back in this booth, overlooking this field. When the broadcast legend retired in April, there was no thought of long goodbyes or unfinished business.
How could there be, really?
He had, at one point, called 5,060 straight regular-season games. In his 25-year career as the radio voice of the Yankees, he was part of seven World Series and five championships. He has heard the NYPD broadcast his calls down the Canyon of Heroes.
Sterling didn’t have to think about unfinished business. There simply was no business he left unfinished.
So this? Being at Yankee Stadium this postseason, alongside longtime broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman? This is a labor of love — one that happened only after WFAN general manager Christopher Oliviero called Sterling and asked him to come back. Sterling took a few days to mull it over before agreeing.
“I’m 86 — that’s ridiculous in and of itself,” he said before ALCS Game 1 against the Guardians at Yankee Stadium on Monday, empty scorecard in front of him, ready to be populated with names. “And so it’s like one last hurrah.”
And what would it mean for that last hurrah to be one last World Series?
“That would be the ultimate, of course,” he said. “The ride up Broadway [during the championship parade], it’s unbelievable. What a thing, to have millions of people chanting your name and calling out your home run calls.”
There is, of course, plenty of baseball left before that can become a reality. But for fans, having Sterling around is the equivalent of a warm blanket meant to battle the creeping October chill.
“It’s so comfortable, and that’s the word that — I’ve gotten a lot of texts from people and fans right on Twitter saying there’s something about the sound, with the two of you, that means to us, ‘playoffs,’ ” Waldman said. “Baseball is supposed to be almost like comfort food. It’s exciting but it’s supposed to be like comfort food, so there’s something very right to this.”
Sterling said this postseason likely is the last time he’ll call a Yankees game, but he’s also been in this business too long to deal in absolutes. And though he’s retired, he’s not stagnant: Olivieri floated the idea of doing a weekly radio talk show, and they’re still discussing the possibility.
Feb. 1, Sterling said, would make 65 years in broadcasting, and it’s a milestone he seems very open to meeting.
“I got very lucky,” he said. “My voice hasn’t gone bad, so you don’t know how old I am on the air. I’m not giving up.”
Guardians play-by-play announcer Tom Hamilton, who got the gig a year after Sterling started in 1989, noted they are all part of a “small fraternity.”
“One of the most fortunate things I’ve had is being around John and Suzyn all these years,” Hamilton said. “I think the world of both of them. I’ve always been in awe of their talent, their creativity and the way they connect to this city. I mean, they are the New York Yankees, in my mind.”
Sterling brought that up, too. He retired because the travel was too much — he isn’t looking forward to packing and unpacking for the trip to Cleveland and is actually rooting for the Mets so he can cover a Subway World Series — but calling the game itself is easy. A lot of that has to do with how long and how well he’s done it, and part of it, too, is getting to do it with his longtime friend.
“I’ve got a great partner who I love dearly,” he said, referencing Waldman. “And in our broadcast, there’s no production meeting. We don’t have any meetings. We just go on air and we combine very well, I think.”
Though Sterling doesn’t have any business to finish, Waldman, for one, is happy her partner has been given one more shot at calling the biggest games on the biggest stage.
When he retired, “it happened so quickly that I always got the feeling he didn’t have the chance to say goodbye,’’ she said. “He never got to really go out on his own terms . . . I think this was perfect.”
There’s not a lot that’s perfect about life, or about baseball for that matter — but for fans who grew up with that smooth low voice declaring “thuhhhhh Yankees win,” having Sterling and Waldman together one more time this October might come pretty close.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
