Craig Carton to do Yankees play-by-play with Suzyn Waldman for series in August
Craig Carton sits in the newly redesigned studio for the Carlton and Roberts simulcast on SNY, Monday, May 24, 2021, in New York. Credit: Corey Sipkin
WFAN has been mixing and matching Yankees announcers all season since John Sterling retired in April.
But Monday brought an intriguing plot twist with the news that Craig Carton, the former morning and later afternoon co-host on the station, will do play-by-play for a series in August.
Adding to the intrigue will be the fact that he will work with Suzyn Waldman, Sterling’s longtime partner, who in the past has made it clear that she did not appreciate some of Carton’s on-air impersonations of her.
Carton will work the Aug. 9-11 series against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium. He made the announcement on WFAN’s afternoon show.
The Yankees have not announced a permanent replacement for Sterling.
Justin Shackil, Emmanuel Berbari, Rickie Ricardo and Brendan Burke have called games this season.
Carton said the Yankees called to offer him the opportunity and added that he immediately called WFAN to confirm that it was not some sort of prank.
“This is one of the great asks of my career and my lifetime,” he said.
He added: “This is not a bit. This is not shtick. The Yankees requested it. We had a conversation with [Audacy executive Chris Oliviero] and WFAN, and they have blessed it as well.
“I have the great honor of a lifetime, having done a couple Nets NBA games, having done an Islander game, having done a [Brooklyn] Cyclones game . . . It’s really one of the craziest, out-of-leftfield [asks] . . . and I said yes in a New York second.”
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.
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