For more than three decades, his booming baritone and signature home run calls made listening to New York Yankees games on the radio a treasured tradition of the Major League Baseball’s loyal fan base. Alongside Suzyn Waldman, John Sterling‘s time behind the mic is among the most legendary of pro sports.
Now, fans and many from across the broadcast media world are paying tribute to Sterling, who has died at the age of 87.
Born on the Fourth of July of 1938, Sterling called 5,426 regular-season Yankees games and 225 more in the postseason from 1989 until his retirement in 2024, MLB reports. After initially stepping away from the microphone in April 2024, Sterling returned to call selected games late in the ’24 season, including each contest of the World Series.
In a statement, MLB said, “Through his unique style and passionate play-by-play calls, Sterling endeared himself to generations of players and fans as radio voice of the Yankees from 1989 to 2024. His signature punctuation of Yankees victories included calling the final out of five World Series championships. Sterling’s seven-decade broadcasting career also included stints with the Atlanta Braves and Hawks, the New York Nets and Islanders, and the Baltimore Bullets.”
Will never forget John Sterling’s call of Aaron Judge’s record breaking homer. RIP to a legend 🙏 pic.twitter.com/fzRYIfATnL
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) May 4, 2026
Sterling, whose legal name was John Sloss, had suffered a heart attack in January 2026, The Athletic reports.
A member of the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Sterling’s career in broadcasting dates to 1961. His first stop? A radio station in Wellsville, N.Y., in the Twin Tiers due south of Buffalo. He later found work in morning radio at Top 40 WPRO in Providence, R.I., then on the AM dial. From there, Sterling moved to Baltimore. It was there that he first got a taste for sports play-by-play, working with the Bullets and even the Baltimore Colts NFL franchise. In 1971, however, Sterling would return to New York for a full-time talk show host role at WMCA-AM.
Once back in New York, he’d begin calling New Jersey Nets and New York Islanders games. But, it would turn out to be his second of three professional stints in the Big Apple, as in 1981 he relocated to Atlanta to host both the Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Hawks pro teams’ on-air coverage.
Eight years later, he joined the Bronx Bombers. It was not until 2005 that Waldman took on the role of color analyst, sitting alongside Sterling in place of Michael Kay, who had the role from 1995-2004.
Even in retirement, Sterling couldn’t leave the mic behind. In 2025, he joined WABC Radio to host his own weekly program.
