A Sendoff to the Soundtrack of My Youth

On Monday, the baseball world and our city lost an iconic voice.

John Sterling the longtime voice of the Yankees from 1989 through 2024 died at the age of 87.

Throughout the day, the baseball and NY sports world did a fantastic job paying tribute to his life.

So I guess, its my turn.

I grew up listening to John Sterling. From my first memories of listening to the Yankees on the radio in 1994, Sterling was a part of my life.

First it was falling asleep to John and Michael Kay doing the games as a young boy.

I remember staying up in 1996 the day before my birthday as Dwight Gooden threw a no hitter against Seattle.

Sterling painted the pictures in my mind of what I was seeing at the Stadium and was truly one of a kind.

He was an entertainer, a showman, a man perfectly built to showcase what the Yankees were all about, especially through one of their best periods in franchise history.

Sterling was behind the mic for every big call throughout the 90s dynasty. 

Even if you found yourself watching the games on TV, you couldn’t wait to hear how John described it.

The enthusiasm, the flair and of course, the home run calls.

It started with “Burn Baby Burn” for Bernie Williams and evolved into a cottage industry

In fact, whenever the Yankees added a new player, you couldn’t wait to hear the Sterling call!

As a young kid, I never could’ve imagined that I would develop a relationship with John Sterling.

In fact, the relationship started as a Syracuse radio student rolling the dice calling him to come on my college radio show.

He not only said yes, but could not have been more engaging and charming over those 20 minutes.

John never remembered coming on with me when I started doing radio in NY, but the idea that he said yes to a 21 year old student says a lot about him.

He loved his craft, he loved baseball and he loved life.

I texted John after the news in 2024 surrounding his retirement.

The next day, I missed a call and saw a voicemail.

It was from John. We then chatted for 10 minutes and that was the final time I talked to him.

I thanked him that day, and thats what I want to do today.

Thanks for the passion and making a Yankee broadcast an event.

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York every Sunday & Thursday plus after every Knicks game on Spotify, Apple & now YouTube. You can watch me on Honda Sportsnite following Mets postgame on SNY.