John Sterling died on Monday.
Who was John Sterling? To me, he was the Yankee Radio broadcaster of my childhood and into my adulthood. I never met the man, I never spoke to him, he had no idea who I was, but I was saddened to hear of his death. He was part of my life for 30 years or so, broadcasting the Yankees.
As a young child, we didn’t have cable, so watching Yankee games was not an option unless they played on WPIX, but that was maybe 30 games a year or so. Due to this, I had to listen to the radio to get my Yankee fix. Listening to John Sterling and Michael Kay allowed me to picture the field, see what was happening, understand why certain plays occurred or decisions were made. They truly taught me the sport of baseball.
John Sterling was awesome. He described the game in detail, but it also felt like he was having a lot of fun out there speaking with his analyst, and that made it feel like what baseball is; a casual sport with downtime and periodic excitement. He is remembered for his home run calls, but he called amazing plays with such enthusiasm as well. If there was a play in the field such as a great catch, he would call it with such enthusiasm that you’d know it was a brilliant play.
I think that not having cable, and listening to him call the games along with Michael Kay or Suzyn Waldman, really helped me become a better fan, someone who now knows how to see the field and appreciate the big and small moments.
As mentioned, I didn’t know John Sterling, just his famous home run calls. But as people this week were speaking about him, I was impressed by the man as much as the broadcaster.
Rest in peace, John Sterling.