John Sterling, Edgewater, NJ resident and the voice of the Yankees on radio on Aug. 17, 2012 in Bronx, New York.
John Sterling, a radio titan in New York City and the long-time voice of the Yankees, has died at the age of 87, as confirmed by WFAN on Monday.
Sterling called 5,420 regular-season games and 211 postseason games across parts of 36 seasons working with the Bronx Bombers before retiring in April 2024. He worked a staggering 5,060 games from September 1989 to July 2019 before an illness sidelined him.
He was on the call for five World Series championships and 24 postseason appearances, ending nearly every triumphant broadcast with his signature “Yankees win! The Yankees win!”
His home run calls were equally indelible: “It’s an A-bomb for A-Rod” (Alex Rodriguez), “Burn Baby Burn” (Bernie Williams), “A Thrilla from Godzilla” (Hideki Matsui).
“We are devastated to hear about the passing of John Sterling, a WFAN and Yankees radio icon whose voice was synonymous with an entire generation of Yankee fandom,” WFAN said in a statement.
A New York City native, Sterling (born John Sloss) grew up on the Upper East Side and left college to begin his radio career at a small radio station in Wellsville, NY.
He changed his last name to Sterling and moved down to Baltimore, where he was the play-by-play man for the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets for the 1970-71 season. He returned to New York in 1971 with WMCA and called hockey, most notably with the Islanders, and basketball with the Nets during their ABA days and through their move to the NBA and New Jersey. From 1975 to 1980, his calls were broadcast on WMCA, WVNJ, WOR-TV, and SportsChannel New York.
He moved to Atlanta and spent nine years as a call-in host on WSB radio while covering the Braves and Hawks for Turner Sports. In 1989, he returned to New York, joining WABC radio as the voice of the Yankees.
