John Sterling (born July 4, 1938) is an American
sportscaster, best known as the radio play-by-play announcer of
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
's
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
. Sterling called 5,060 consecutive Yankees games, beginning in 1989, before taking a four-game break in July 2019.
Early life
Sterling grew up on
Manhattan's Upper East Side, in the East 80s.
He was the son of advertising executive Carl H.T. Sloss.
He briefly attended
Moravian College
Moravian University is a private university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The institution traces its founding to 1742 by Moravians, descendants of followers of the Bohemian Reformation under John Amos Comenius. Founded in 1742, Moravian University ...
,
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original cam ...
, and the
Columbia University School of General Studies
The School of General Studies, Columbia University (GS) is a liberal arts college and one of the undergraduate colleges of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights, New York City. GS is known primarily ...
before leaving school to begin his career in radio at a small station in
Wellsville, New York
Wellsville is a Town and largest community in Allegany County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 7,099.
Wellsville is centrally located in the south half of the county, north of the Pennsylvania border ...
.
Broadcasting career
Early career
Sterling began his broadcasting career in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
, where he served as the
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
announcer for the then-
Baltimore Bullets for the 1970–71
NBA season. He also did play-by-play for
Morgan State University
Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...
football, a role that he held from 1971 to 1978.
Sterling came to New York broadcasting as a talk show host with
WMCA WMCA may refer to:
*WMCA (AM), a radio station operating in New York City
* West Midlands Combined Authority, the combined authority of the West Midlands metropolitan county in the United Kingdom
*Wikimedia Canada
The Wikimedia Foundation, ...
in 1971. He later served as the radio voice for the
WHA's
New York Raiders, the
WFL's
New York Stars, the
NHL's
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conferenc ...
(where he was paired with
Bob Lawrence
Robert Andrew Lawrence (December 14, 1899 – November 6, 1983) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in one game for the Chicago White Sox on July 19, 1924. He pitched in one inning and recorded one strikeout. He allowed one hit, one ea ...
), and the
ABA/
NBA's
New York/New Jersey Nets (where he was paired mainly with Mike DeTomasso). Sterling also did a stretch with the Yankees as pre-game host on WMCA and
WINS radio, as well as co-host on cable segments with
Mel Allen
Mel Allen (born Melvin Allen Israel; February 14, 1913 – June 16, 1996) was an American sportscaster, best known for his long tenure as the primary play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees. During the peak of his career in the 1940 ...
.
From 1975 through 1980, Sterling announced Nets and Islanders games for WMCA,
WVNJ,
WOR-TV
WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW ...
, and
SportsChannel New York, continuing his WMCA talk program until 1978.
After his initial stint in New York, Sterling spent nine years in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
hosting a sports call-in show on
WSB radio and covering the
Braves (1982–1987) and
Hawks
Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica.
* The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily ...
(1981–1989) for
Turner Sports.
New York Yankees (1989–present)
In 1989, Sterling returned to New York to broadcast the games for the Yankees on
WABC radio. He has been with the Yankees ever since, currently calling games on
WFAN radio and its affiliates in the
New York Yankees Radio Network
The New York Yankees Radio Network is an Audacy-owned radio network that broadcasts New York Yankees baseball games to 52 stations across 14 states. The network's flagship station is WFAN, which succeeded sister station WCBS as the flagship in 2 ...
. Since 2005, he has been paired with
Suzyn Waldman; past announcing partners include:
Jay Johnstone
John William Johnstone Jr. (November 20, 1945 – September 26, 2020) was an American professional baseball player and television sports announcer. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1966 to 1985 for the California Angel ...
(1989–1990),
Joe Angel
Joseph Angel (born May 5, 1948) is a retired American sportscaster best known for calling play-by-play for several Major League Baseball teams, including 19 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles Radio Network. A native of Bogotá, Colombia, Angel i ...
(1991),
Michael Kay (1992–2001), and
Charley Steiner
Charley Steiner (born ) is an American sportscaster and broadcast journalist. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for the Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, paired with Rick Monday.
Early career
Steiner grew up a Bro ...
(2002–2004).
In 2013, the Yankees announced a move to
WFAN
WFAN (660 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York, carrying a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM" or "The Fan". Owned by Audacy, Inc., the station serves the New York metropolitan area while ...
for ten years, and Sterling was retained. He is currently under contract through the 2022 season.
On October 18, 2021, Sterling signed a new contract with WFAN for 2022 with the potential for a reduced schedule. On June 6, 2022, Sterling announced that he would start working on a reduced schedule in the second half of the MLB season, primarily taking time off from traveling to road games outside of the northeastern United States. He will continue to do road trips to
Fenway Park
Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...
,
Citi Field
Citi Field is a baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City, United States. It opened in 2009 and is the home field of Major League Baseball's New York Mets. The stadium was built as a replacement for the adjacent ...
, and
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...
.
On September 20, 2018, as part of a promotion called “Rivalry in the Booth”, Sterling and Red Sox radio broadcaster
Joe Castiglione
Joseph John Castiglione (born March 2, 1947) is an American radio announcer for the Boston Red Sox baseball team,[Joe Castig ...](_blank)
switched places in the fourth inning. From June 29-30, 2019, Sterling called the first MLB games played in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
Sterling took his first days off since 1989 from July 4, 2019 until July 7, 2019.
Sterling's association with the Yankees is not limited to announcing live games over the radio. He is also host of the
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (which owns 20%), ...
's ''
Yankeeography
''Yankeeography'' is a biography-style television program that chronicles the lives and careers of the players, coaches, and other notable personnel associated with the New York Yankees Major League Baseball team. The series is aired on the YE ...
'' series, which produces biographies of New York Yankees. Among several nominations, Sterling has received two
Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for the series.
He also hosts the introductions and recaps for
Yankees Classics. In addition, Sterling has a nightly commentary feature on
WCBS newscasts called "Sterling on Sports", in which he gives his take on a recent sporting event or sports news item. This commentary airs nightly during the 6:15 PM sports report.
Sterling and former broadcasting partner Michael Kay commonly work together representing the Yankees. They announce the annual Yankees'
Old-Timers' Day
Old-Timers' Day (or Old-Timers' Game) refers to a tradition in Major League Baseball where a team devotes the early afternoon preceding a weekend game to honor retired players who played for the organization during their careers. The retired play ...
.
They have presided at the "Key to the City" ceremonies following Yankee World Series victories in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009. The pair often serve as masters of ceremonies on and off the field for major Yankee events, including the 2000
ticker-tape parade
A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker tap ...
held in the Yankees' honor after their
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...
win.
Sterling has emceed several Yankees pre-game ceremonies including the number retirements of
Jorge Posada
Jorge Rafael Posada Villeta (born August 17, 1970) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. Posada recorded a .273 batting average, 275 home runs, and ...
,
Andy Pettitte
Andrew Eugene Pettitte (; born June 15, 1972) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily for the New York Yankees. He also pitched for the Houston Astros. Pettitte won fiv ...
,
Bernie Williams
Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. (born September 13, 1968) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and a musician. He played his entire 16-year career in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the New York Yankees from 1991 through 2006. ...
,
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...
,
Derek Jeter
Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...
,
Mariano Rivera
Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and "Sandman", he spent most ...
's number retirement in 2013 and Monument Park induction (2016), and the 20th anniversary of the Yankees'
1996 World Series
The 1996 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1996 season. The 92nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion (and defending World Series champio ...
victory in 2016. His long association with the Yankees has earned him the nickname "Pa Pinstripe" from ''
New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...
'' writer Bob Raissman.
In 2022, Sterling reduced his workload by calling fewer games on the road, saying that he was getting tired of making road trips.
Other work
From 2013 through 2017 Sterling announced the
Kitten Bowl on the
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies a ...
.
On December 16, 2018, Sterling called the
Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The ...
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...
game on the
YES Network
The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network (YES) is an American pay television regional sports network owned by Yankee Global Enterprises (the largest shareholder with 26%), Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios (which owns 20%), ...
.
Announcing mannerisms
Sterling has several idiosyncrasies that mark his broadcasts as distinctive, very unusual, if also divisive.
In addition to a colorful vocal personality, Sterling has distinguished himself for sometimes characterizing plays differently than they may appear and for his announcing errors, habits that spark high feelings in fans and lead to comparisons with announcers like
Phil Rizzuto.
Following the final out of a Yankees victory, Sterling calls "''Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win!''"
The length of the word "the" is held longer after dramatic victories, as well as after victories resulting in championships (which Sterling also punctuates by saying the name of whichever series is over). It has been played over the public address system at
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
after every Yankees victory for the past several seasons, right before
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
's cover of "
Theme from New York, New York
"Theme from ''New York, New York''", often abbreviated to just "New York, New York", is the theme song from the Martin Scorsese film ''New York, New York'' (1977), composed by John Kander, with lyrics by Fred Ebb. It was written for and per ...
" is played.
The phrase evolved from Sterling's call of
Mel Hall
Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to:
Biology
* Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL)
* National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL
People
* Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...
's game-winning three-run homer in the ninth inning on May 27, 1991, to give the Yankees a dramatic
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
win over the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
.
One of his signature radio remarks is his home run call "''It is high, it is far, it is gone!''" Sterling is known for devising a personalized home run catchphrase for every Yankee player.
For back to back home runs, especially homers from opposite sides of the plate, Sterling references
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...
's "Zombie Jamboree" by saying "it's a back to back! ... and a belly to belly!" In addition, sometimes before a pitch he will say "theeeeeee pitch", lengthening the word ''the''. If a batter swings and misses, Sterling will often say "cuuuuut on-and-missed", elongating the word ''cut'', followed by ''on-n-miss'' pronounced as one quick word. After a strikeout swinging, he says "STRUCK HIM OUT SWINGING!", and for a strikeout looking he calls "STRIIIIKE THREE!", elongating the 'I' in strike.
In all cases when Sterling emphasizes the word "the", as is one of his signatures, he uses not the
long ē (''"thee"'') but the
schwa ə (''"thuh"'').
Criticism
Sterling's style of play calling is heavily criticized in the media.
He is regularly criticized by
Craig Carton
Craig Harris Carton (born January 31, 1969) is an American radio and television personality. He is the co-host of the ''Carton and Roberts'' sports radio program on WFAN (AM) in New York City, and is seen nationally on Fox Sports 1 as host of '' ...
and
Phil Mushnick
Phil Mushnick is a sports columnist for the ''New York Post''. Over his career he has served as a beat reporter for the New York Cosmos, the New Jersey Nets, and the New York Rangers. In 1982 he was named the Post's television and radio columnist. ...
for his inaccurate calls.
Jim Norton of ''
The Opie and Anthony Show
''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show originated in 1994 when Cumia took part in ...
'' routinely mocked Sterling's player nicknames and his emphasis on the "mmm" sound before saying "mmm-it is high, mmm-it is far. ..."
Personal life
Sterling is a resident of
Edgewater, New Jersey
Edgewater is a borough located along the Hudson River in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough had a population of 11,513,/nowiki>''sic''/nowiki> Hill Road was an important route to the top o ...
. He had previously resided in
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...
. He was divorced in 2008 after 12 years of marriage to wife, Jennifer
and is the father of four, including a set of triplets, born in 2000.
In January 2015, he was among hundreds of displaced residents after a fire destroyed the Avalon at Edgewater complex building.
In August 2020, Sterling was hospitalized for a blood infection.
On September 1, 2021, after calling a Yankees game remotely from
Yankee Stadium
Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer.
Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the orig ...
, Sterling was stranded in his car about a mile from his home in Edgewater by flooding following
Hurricane Ida. Spanish-language Yankees broadcaster
Rickie Ricardo
Rickie Ricardo (born Jorge Lima Jr. in Newark, New Jersey) is a Spanish- and English-language sportscaster, talk show host, and voice-over actor. He calls games in Spanish for the New York Yankees, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Philadelphia Phi ...
, also an Edgewater resident, was driving his
Jeep Cherokee home and rescued Sterling.
References
External links
New York Yankees biographyBlog dedicated to Sterling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, John
1938 births
Living people
American Basketball Association announcers
American radio sports announcers
Atlanta Braves announcers
Atlanta Hawks announcers
Atlanta Falcons announcers
Boston University alumni
College football announcers
Columbia University School of General Studies alumni
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Moravian University alumni
National Football League announcers
National Hockey League broadcasters
National Basketball Association broadcasters
New York Islanders announcers
New York Nets announcers
New York Yankees announcers
People from Edgewater, New Jersey
People from Teaneck, New Jersey
People from the Upper East Side
People from Wellsville, New York
Sportspeople from New York City
World Football League announcers
YES Network
World Hockey Association broadcasters