Dave Sims on WFAN for Yankees games: A perfect call!

Dave Sims called Suzyn Waldman the night he got the Yankees’ radio play-by-play job with a succinct message: “Hey, partner. I’m home.”

It was that simple for Sims, who has lived in Manhattan since 1975, has known Waldman since 1987 and well understands the allure of the Yankees’ brand.

“I’m home, and it’s the Yankees,” he told Newsday in explaining his career move over a recent lunch. “Hello!”

Sims is replacing a Yankees broadcast fixture in John Sterling, who had the job since 1989 before retiring last season.

But in hiring a 72-year-old who has been there and done that over 50 years in the business, WFAN need not worry about the new guy being intimidated.

Given his experience and his long friendship with Waldman, everyone involved is counting on a seamless transition.

Sterling retired last April. Sims, who had been calling Seattle Mariners games since 2007, knew the Mariners would be in New York in May. So he scheduled a meeting with Chris Oliviero, market president for Audacy New York, WFAN’s parent company.

He recalled telling Oliviero, “I know [this job] is perfect for me, and it’s perfect for you.”

Oliviero told him no decision would be made until after the season. Then in June, a caller to WFAN who went by “Dr. Joe” claimed Sims was a candidate and cited Waldman as his source.

Turned out he was right. After using fill-ins all season and after Sterling returned for the end of the regular season and playoffs, WFAN tabbed Sims for the job.

“Three qualities, beyond the obvious high-quality mechanical and personality components of a major league broadcaster, were essential in the eyes of both the Yankees and WFAN,” Oliviero told Newsday.

“First, know New York, second, know both the history and today’s Yankees, and know Suzyn. Dave clearly possesses all of these traits, which meant the transition would be smooth and we can hit the ground running on Opening Day.

“Rarely in the business are you able to go from the caliber of a John Sterling right into another marquee standout talent, but we were with Dave.”

Sims grew up in Philadelphia but has been a New Yorker since he landed a job with the Daily News right out of Bethany College in West Virginia in 1975.

He spent seven years as a print journalist before transitioning to broadcasting, including a stint from 1989-93 as WFAN’s midday co-host with Ed Coleman.

Sims did a variety of local and national play-by-play, hosting, anchor and sports talk work over decades.

Then came the Mariners’ job. He said doing radio in Seattle in addition to TV was key to preparing him for his new gig.

“It’s horseshoes and hand grenades,” he said of the two disciplines. “You can’t do TV on radio. You can’t do radio on TV. At least you shouldn’t.”

Like many New York announcers of his generation, he considers himself a disciple of the late Marty Glickman, who preached precision and detail.

Sims believes his early experience in daily newspapers still helps him as a reporter and observer.

“I always say I got my PhD in Marty Glickman, and I feel the newspaper was like my master’s [degree],” he said.

The news that he would succeed Sterling seemed generally popular with fans and certainly was popular in the business. It was with Sims’ family, too.

His wife, Abby, used to visit on weekends in Seattle during the season before retiring from her physical therapy business.

“She deserves as many gold medals as you can carry,” Sims said.

He has two sons, Jordan and Jarett. His two granddaughters live nearby in Hoboken, New Jersey. Sims and his sons do a podcast together called “Hey Now!”

Even though Sims is 14 years younger than Sterling, the 162-game grind is still a grind, but he said it will be nothing compared to Seattle. The Mariners traveled about 17,000 more miles than the Yankees did in 2024.

It also helps when the team you cover always wins. The Yankees have not had a losing record since 1992.

“This is the closest I’ve ever been to a ring,” Sims said.

Sims takes seriously his status as one of the few Black play-by-play announcers in baseball and credits a Yankees predecessor, Bill White, as an inspiration.

He first saw White on television when Sims was a teenager in Philadelphia and White was the sports director on a local station.

During a recent visit to White, Sims said he told him, “That meant a lot to me. I think somewhere in my subconscious was, ‘You know what, this could happen to you.’ ”

“I’ve listened to him, and I think he’s excellent,” White, 91, told Newsday. “Dave has been here. He’s going to do well. As long as he’s a good broadcaster, the fans will accept him, and he is a good broadcaster.”

Like Sterling, Sims has signature calls, including “Hey now!” for big moments and “Giddy-up!” for prospective home runs.

The latter came from the TV Westerns of his youth. The former came from being a Frank Sinatra fan and quoting one of his song lines, “Hey now, I’m so in love.”

Now it is time to live the lyrics to another Sinatra song: New York, New York.

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.