A career of love for the Yankees and their fans
Whiting, N.J.: To my knowledge, there are no books written yet about the great Yankees announcer John Sterling. We can only hope he’ll have the time, health and inclination to write his autobiography now, but here’s an outline of a book someone else might write about him if he doesn’t. The first section might be called “Sterling’s Legacy of Longevity.” We all know the incredible stats: 36 years of calling Yankees games; 5,060 consecutive games called; announcing all regular season and postseason games that Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera appeared in, and so on. But the second section would show what drove him to these achievements, what made him tick, and what made him so consistently cheerful calling Yankees games in good years and bad since 1989.
John’s love for the team can best be interpreted by his actions. He never missed a game despite becoming a father of triplets in 2000, displaced by a fire in 2015, and being hospitalized for a blood infection at 81 in 2020. He could have drowned in his car during Hurricane Ida when fellow Yankees announcer Rickie Ricardo saved his stranded colleague after a broadcast (2021), but, unshaken, John (photo) got behind the mic the very next day!
Last year, a foul ball smashed him on the forehead in the broadcast booth a few weeks before his 85th birthday. He enthusiastically finished calling the game, never missing a beat. Only a passionate love for his job and the team he worked for (and loved since childhood) could keep him going through all of these events at that age! John definitely belongs in Monument Park and Cooperstown.
Chet Jelinski