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The Yankee Stadium crowd altered its usual call Monday night during the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles to honor a legendary man synonymous with the team’s long history.
Chants for John Sterling, the longtime New York Yankees radio announcer, rang out from the bleachers and seats in the Bronx on a somber Monday for baseball fans across the Tri-State, and indeed across the country.
Joe Girardi was among those mourning the loss of an iconic voice he had the pleasure of knowing as a player, manager and media colleague throughout his own baseball career. Like many, Sterling’s impact was immediately felt by Girardi, which is why he only had one feeling when he heard the news.
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Former New York Yankees player and manager Joe Girardi reflected on his relationship with the late John Sterling, the legendary radio announcer who died at age 87. (GETTY)
“Just sadness because I know how much he meant to the organization, to the Yankees, to me, [and] to people,” Girardi, who is an analyst with YES Yankees, told PK Press Club Digital in a phone interview Monday.
“I always loved being around people who have such great passion for what they do. John really had that. He had a gift, but he really had a passion. For that, his example was great. I miss him. I miss hearing him on the radio because I travel a lot and I’ll put the game on the radio. I have SiriusXM radio and I listen to games. I miss that. I miss hearing him and Suzyn. [Waldman]”.
Waldman, Sterling’s longtime partner on WFAN Sports Radio, was one of those Girardi spoke with Monday after hearing the news.
YANKEES RADIO ICON JOHN STERLING DEAD AT 87
“She said something that really touched me about John. She said, ‘John only did what he wanted to do and never did anything he didn’t want to do.’ You think about living your life – it’s a good life,” Girardi said. “I think about things I do that I don’t want to do, but I do them anyway. He wasn’t John Sterling. He lived life to the fullest. He loved it, loved being with people, and was willing to go do his job. He brought life into your family living room, or into your car, or wherever he was and whatever he was doing.”
For 64 years, Sterling worked in the broadcast industry, but he left his mark on one of the most iconic organizations in all of sports when he joined the Yankees in 1989 and didn’t leave his position until April 2024.
Even then, Sterling returned to the radio booth for the Yankees’ postseason broadcasts as they returned to the World Series for the first time since Girardi’s 2009 team won it against the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was during his tenure as manager that Girardi said he remembers his favorite interaction with Sterling which was true to the exceptional character and man he was.
New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling hosts the Old Timers Day ceremony before a game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York on July 30, 2022. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
“I think those are the interactions that I remember the most, and that was obviously a good part of my career. I was the manager of the Yankees and John was doing the pregame,” Girardi began. “We do it every day and John had his old tape recorder and his phone with him. We were in the middle of the interview and he stops the tape. He takes his phone out of his pocket, opens it because back then they were flip phones. He says, ‘Honey, I’m doing the manager’s show. I’ll call you back in three minutes.” I’m like, ‘Who does that? He beats his own drum so much that he stopped in the middle of the show and I think we started again. But obviously that call was very important to him. When I think about it today, and that was many years ago, I still laugh today. It was early in my management career because Suzyn took over and I just laugh. It was John Sterling.’
Sterling was also known for his iconic home run calls, something Girardi and many others looked forward to hearing when a player hit him over the fences.
They always started with: “It’s high, it’s far, it’s gone!” before launching into a slogan, or even a song. For Alex Rodriguez, “It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod”, or more recently with “Here come the Judge!” when Aaron Judge blows up.
“I’m still curious what it was going to be like,” Girardi added. “And I thought, ‘How do you achieve that?’ He was so creative – I didn’t get that gene. He was so creative that I always wondered how he thought about it, how long it took him to think about it, and he never missed a beat. A guy got called up and hit a home run on the second day? He had it. It was there.”
FILE – In this Sept. 25, 2009, file photo, New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling sits in the stand before the Yankees’ baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in New York. Sterling was helped out of his flooded car by Spanish radio play-by-play Rickie Ricardo on Wednesday evening, September 1, 2021, after Sterling got stuck trying to get home after a match. Sterling and Ricardo both called New York’s game against the Los Angeles Angels from Yankee Stadium because radio crews have not resumed traveling with the team under COVID-19 protocols. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, file)
Girardi admitted that being older now, he has a growing appreciation for how gifted and talented Sterling was, as well as the work he went through for so many years calling 162 games with spring training and numerous playoff runs as well.
But what’s even more valuable to Girardi than the accolades, the signing calls and the 5,060 consecutive games called is the care he gave to everyone he encountered.
“What you saw was how much he cared about you as an individual and how much he cared about you,” Girardi said. “That was what was amazing about John: He wanted you to be successful and for the Yankees to win. That meant something to him. It wasn’t just him doing a job. It was a big part of his life, and the enjoyment it brought him, you could see it.”
The old cliché says that if you do something you love, you will never work a day in your life.
For Girardi, Sterling did more than that.
New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling speaks with Aaron Judge before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium in New York on April 20, 2024. (New York Yankees/Getty Images)
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“He was an example of how you were supposed to live,” he said. “Find your passion and do it as long as you can. Joe Torre always said, ‘Never take your uniform off until they take it off you.'” That was John Sterling.
“It’s the sign of a man who truly loves what he does. It’s an example we should all look forward to.”
