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The Yankee Stadium crowd changed its usual roll call Monday night in 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 radio announcer for the New York Yankees, roared from the stands and seats in the Bronx on a somber Monday for baseball fans in the tri-state and even 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 career in baseball. Like many others, Sterling’s impact was one Girardi felt immediately, which is why there was only one emotion 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 87. (GETTY)
“Just sadness because I know how much he meant to the organization, to the Yankees, to me, [and] to people,” Girardi, who serves as a YES Yankees analyst, told Pakinomist Digital in a phone interview Monday.
“I’ve always loved being around people who have so much passion for what they do. John really had that. He had a gift, but he really had a passion. Because his example was great. I miss him. I miss hearing him on the radio because there’s a lot of times I’m traveling and I’ll put the game on the radio. I have SiriusXM, missing him, I miss him and listening to games. [Waldman].”
Waldman, Sterling’s longtime partner on WFAN Sports Radio, was one of those Girardi spoke with on Monday after hearing the news.
YANKEES RADIO ICON JOHN STERLING DEAD AT 87
“She said something that really resonated with me about John. She says, ‘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 explained. “I think about things I do that I don’t want to do, but I do them anyway. That wasn’t John Sterling. He lived his life to the fullest. He enjoyed it, enjoyed being around people and was ready to go and do his job. He brought life into your family room, or your car, or wherever he was and whatever he was doing.”
For 64 years, Sterling was in the broadcast business, but he left his mark on one of the most iconic organizations in all of sports when he joined the Yankees in 1989 and did not 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 over the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was during his time as manager that Girardi said he remembers his favorite interaction with Sterling that was true to the exceptional character and man he was.
New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling joins the Old Timers Day ceremony before a game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 30, 2022 in New York City. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
“I think the interactions that I remember the most, and it was obviously well into my career. I was the Yankees manager and John was doing pre-game,” Girardi began. “We do it every day and John would bring his old tape recorder and bring his phone. We were in the middle of the interview and he stops the tape. He takes his phone out of his pocket, flips it open, because they were flip phones. He says, ‘Honey, I’m doing the manager’s show. I’ll call you back in three minutes.’ I think, ‘Who does that?’ He beats his own drum so much that he stopped right in the middle of the show and I think we started over. But that call was obviously very important to him. When I think about it today, and it’s been many years, I still laugh today. It was early in my career as a manager because Suzyn took over and I’m just sitting there laughing. It was John Sterling.”
Sterling was also known for his signature home run calls, something Girardi and many others eagerly waited to hear when a player would hit it over the fence.
They always began with, “It’s high, it’s far, it’s gone!” before breaking out into a catchphrase or even a song. For Alex Rodriguez, “It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod”, or most recently with “Here comes the referee!” when Aaron Judge hits a bang.
“Always curious what it was going to be,” Girardi added. “And I was like, ‘How do you make that up?’ He was so creative – I didn’t get it. He was so creative that I always wondered how he thought of it, how long it took him to think of it, and he never missed a beat. A guy got a call and drove home the other day? He had it. It was there.”
FILE – In this Sept. 25, 2009 file photo, New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling sits in the stands 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 man Rickie Ricardo on Wednesday night, September 1, 2021, after Sterling got stuck trying to drive home after a game. Sterling and Ricardo both called New York’s game at the Los Angeles Angels from Yankee Stadium because the radio crews have not resumed traveling with the team as part of the COVID-19 protocols. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Girardi admitted that as an older man now, he appreciates more and more how gifted and talented Sterling was, as well as the work he went through for so many years, calling 162 games in spring training and many postseasons.
But even more valuable to Girardi than the accolades, signature calls and 5,060 consecutive games called was the care he had for everyone he ran into.
“What you saw was how much he cared about you as an individual and how much he cared about you being successful,” Girardi said. “That was the great thing about John: he wanted you to be successful and the Yankees to win. That meant something to him. He wasn’t just doing a job. This was a big part of his life, and you could tell the enjoyment it gave him.”
The old cliché is do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
For Girardi, Sterling did more than just that.
New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling talks 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 should live,” he said. “Find your passion and do it as long as you can. Joe Torre always used to say, ‘Never take your uniform off until they take it off you.’ It was John Sterling.
“It’s the sign of a man who truly loves what he does. It’s an example that we should all look up to.”
