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The Yankee Stadium crowd altered 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 in honor of John Sterling, the longtime radio announcer for the New York Yankees, roared from the bleachers and seats of 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 baseball career. Like many, Sterling’s impact was one that Girardi felt immediately, which is why there was only one feeling 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 host who died at age 87. (GETTY)
“Just sadness because I know how much it meant to the organization, to the Yankees, to me, [and] people,” Girardi, who serves as a YES Yankees analyst, told Pak Gazette Digital in a phone interview Monday.
“I’ve always loved being around people who have a great passion for what they do. John really had that. He had a gift, but he really had a passion. So his example was great. I miss him. I miss listening to him on the radio because a lot of times I’m traveling and I put the game on the radio. I have SiriusXM radio and I listen to games. I miss him. I miss listening to him and Suzyn [Waldman]”.
Waldman, Sterling’s longtime partner at WFAN Sports Radio, was one of those Girardi spoke with Monday after hearing the news.
YANKEES RADIO ICON JOHN STERLING DEATH AT 87
“She said something that really resonated with me about John. She said, ‘John only did what he wanted to do and he never did anything he didn’t want to do.’ You think about living your life, that’s a good life,” Girardi explained. “I think about the 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, he enjoyed being around people, and he was ready to go and do his job. He brought life to your living room, or your car, or wherever he was and whatever he was doing.”
For 64 years, Sterling was in the broadcasting industry, but he made 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 rang true to the exceptional character and man he was.
New York Yankees radio announcer John Sterling emcees the Old Timers Day ceremony before a game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City on July 30, 2022. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
“I think the interactions I remember the most, and obviously they were in my career. I was the manager of the Yankees and John was doing the pregame,” Girardi began. “We do it every day and John had his old tape recorder and his phone with him. We were in the middle of the interview and he stops the tape. He takes his phone out of his pocket, opens it because they were flip phones back then. He says, ‘Honey, I’m doing the manager show. I’ll call you in three minutes.’ I’m thinking, ‘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 again. But obviously that call was very important to him. When I think about it today, and this was many years ago, I still laugh. This was early in my management career because Suzyn took over and I was left laughing. That was John Sterling.”
Sterling was also known for his trademark home runs, something Girardi and many others waited in anticipation to hear when a player would swing over the fences.
They always started with: “It’s high, it’s far, it’s gone!” before bursting into a slogan, or even a song. For Alex Rodriguez, “It’s an A-Rod atomic bomb,” or more recently with “Here comes the judge!” when Aaron Judge hits a blast.
“I was always curious what that was going to be,” Girardi added. “And I was thinking, ‘How do you come up with that?’ He was very creative; They didn’t give me that gene. He was so creative that he always asked me how he thought about it, how long it took him to think about it, and he never missed a beat. A guy got called up and hit a home run on the second day? He had it. “It was there.”
FILE – In this Sept. 25, 2009, file photo, New York Yankees announcer John Sterling sits in the booth before the Yankees’ baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in New York. Spanish-language radio announcer Rickie Ricardo helped Sterling out of his flooded car on the night of Wednesday, September 1, 2021, after Sterling got stuck trying to drive home from a game. Sterling and Ricardo called New York’s game against the Los Angeles Angels from Yankee Stadium because radio crews have not resumed traveling with the team as part of COVID-19 protocols. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Girardi admitted that as he is older he now appreciates more and more how gifted and gifted Sterling was, as well as the effort he went through for so many years calling 162 games with spring training and many postseasons as well.
But even more valuable to Girardi than the accolades, the signature decisions and the 5,060 consecutive games canceled was the care he had for everyone he encountered.
“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 amazing thing about John: He wanted you to succeed and the Yankees to win. It meant something to him. It wasn’t him just doing a job. This was a big part of his life, and the enjoyment it gave him, you could see it.”
The old cliché is: do something you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
For Girardi, Sterling did more than that.
New York Yankees radio announcer John Sterling speaks 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 were supposed to live,” she said. “Find your passion and do it as much as you can. Joe Torre always used to say, ‘Never take off your uniform until it’s taken off of you.’ That was John Sterling.
“That’s the sign of a man who truly loves what he does. He’s an example we should all look forward to.”
