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The Yankee Stadium crowd altered its usual roll call on Monday night in the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles to honor a legendary man synonymous with the team’s long history.
Chants for John Sterling, the longtime radio announcer for the New York Yankees, roared from the bleachers and seats in 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 that he had the pleasure of knowing as a player, manager and media colleague throughout his own career in baseball. Like many, Sterling’s impact was one 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 announcer who passed away at 87. (GETTY)
“Just sadness because I know how much he meant to the organization, to the Yankees, to me, [and] to people,” Girardi, who serves as a YES Yankees analyst, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview on Monday.
“I’ve always loved to be around people that have such a great passion for what they do. John truly had that. He had a gift, but he truly had a passion. For that, his example was great. I miss him. I miss hearing him on the radio because there’s a lot of times I’m traveling and I’ll put the game on the radio. I have SiriusXM radio and listen to games. I miss it. I miss hearing him and Suzyn [Waldman].”
Waldman, Sterling’s long-time partner on WFAN Sports Radio, was one of those Girardi spoke with on Monday after hearing the news.
YANKEES RADIO ICON JOHN STERLING DEAD AT 87
“She said something that really resonated with me about John. She goes, ‘John only did what he wanted to do and never did anything he didn’t want to do.’ You think about living your life – that’s a good life,” Girardi explained. “I think of 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, enjoyed being around people, and was ready to go and do his job. He brought life into your family room, or into your car, or wherever he was at and whatever he was doing.”
For 64 years, Sterling was in the broadcast industry, but he left his mark on one of the most iconic organizations in all of sports when he joined the Yankees in 1989 and didn’t leave his post until April 2024.
Even then, Sterling returned to the radio booth for the Yankees’ postseason broadcasts as they made their way back to the World Series for the first time since Girardi’s 2009 team won it all over the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was during his time as a 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 broadcaster John Sterling emcees the Old Timers Day ceremony before a game between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City on July 30, 2022. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
“I think the interactions that I remember the most, and it was well into my career obviously. I was the Yankees manager and John was doing the pre-game,” Girardi began. “We do it every day and John would have his old tape recorder, and have 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, flips it open because then they were flip phones. He says, ‘Darling, I’m doing the manager’s show. I’ll call you back in three minutes.’ I ‘m thinking, ‘Who does that?’ He beats his own drum so much, he stopped right in the middle of the show, and I believe we started over. But obviously that call was very important to him. When I think about it today, and this was many years ago, I still laugh today. This was early in my career as a manager because Suzyn took over, and I just sit laughing. That was John Sterling.”
Sterling was also known for his signature home run calls, something Girardi and many others waited with anticipation to hear when a player would hit it over the fences.
They always began with, “It is high, it is far, it is gone!” before breaking out into a catchphrase, or even a song. For Alex Rodriguez, “It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod,” or most recently with “Here comes the Judge!” when Aaron Judge hits a blast.
“Always curious what that was going to be,” Girardi added. “And I was thinking, ‘How do you come up with that?’ He was so creative – I wasn’t given that gene. He was so creative, I always wondered how he thought of it, how long it took him to think of it, and he never missed a beat. A guy got called up and hit a home run the second day? He had it. It was there.”
FILE – In this Sept. 25, 2009, file photo, New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling sits in the booth before the Yankees’ baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in New York. Sterling was helped out of his flooding car by Spanish radio play-by-play man Rickie Ricardo on Wednesday night, Sept. 1, 2021, after Sterling got stuck trying to drive home after a game. Sterling and Ricardo both called New York’s game at the Los Angeles Angels from Yankee Stadium because the radio crews have not resumed traveling with the team as part of COVID-19 protocols. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
Girardi admitted that being older now he appreciates more and more how gifted and talented Sterling was, as well as the grind he went through for so many years calling 162 games with spring training and many postseasons as well.
But even more precious to Girardi than the accolades, signature calls and a consecutive 5,060 games called was the care he had for everyone he ran into.
“What you saw was how much he cared about you as an individual and how much he cared you had success,” Girardi said. “That was the amazing thing about John: he wanted you to have success and for the Yankees to win. It meant something to him. It wasn’t him just doing a job. This was a huge part of his life, and the enjoyment it brought 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 just that.
New York Yankees radio broadcaster 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,” he said. “Find your passion and do it as long as you can. Joe Torre used to always say, ‘Don’t ever take your uniform off until they take it off you.’ That was John Sterling.
“That’s the sign of a man who truly loves what he does. That’s an example that we all need to look forward.”
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