Legendary New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling is coming out of retirement to call the team’s postseason games, reports The Athletic. Sterling retired in April. WFAN, which broadcasts Yankees games on the radio, recently made Sterling an offer. Yankees brass signed off on the move last week.
“The ball is in (WFAN’s) court,” Sterling told The Athletic last month. “They would have to ask. I would feel bad for the guys who have done the games all year.”
Sterling, 86, spent more than six decades in broadcasting and at one point called more than 5,000 consecutive Yankees games. Best known for his pun-driven home run calls, Sterling is perhaps most closely associated with the great Yankees teams of the 1990s and early 2000s that featured personalities like Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, and manager Joe Torre.
Since Sterling stepped away in April, WFAN has used a rotating cast of play-by-play broadcasters alongside longtime radio analyst Suzyn Waldman. A permanent play-by-player person is expected to be named at some point, possibly as soon as next year.
The Yankees enter play Thursday with a 80-60 record. They are a half-game behind the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East and have a 10-game lead on a wild-card spot. Safe to assume New York is postseason-bound and Sterling will get back behind the microphone.
