Yankees radio legend John Sterling dead at 87

New York Yankees radio legend John Sterling has died, WFAN Sports Radio in New York announced on Monday. He was 87.

“We are devastated to hear about the passing of John Sterling, a WFAN and Yankees radio icon whose voice was synonymous with an entire generation of Yankee fandom,” the radio station wrote on social media.

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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. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

Sterling suffered a heart attack in January and was said to be in good spirits. He retired from broadcasting in April 2024 after 64 years in the industry.

The sports world mourned the loss of Sterling on social media.

Since 1989, Sterling has been gracing the New York airwaves as the voice of the Yankees, and that has included multiple World Series titles.

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Yankees Broadcaster John Sterling arrives at a screening of the “2009 World Series Film: Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Yankees” at the Ziegfeld Theatre on November 23, 2009 in New York City. (Henry S. Dziekan III/Getty Images)

“It is high, it is far, it is gone!” is something Yankees fans have heard for decades, and Sterling usually followed it up with specific calls for each player, including, “It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod” for Alex Rodriguez and “Here comes the Judge!” for Aaron Judge.

Sterling began his broadcasting career as a play-by-play announcer for the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets in 1970. He started in the New York City area when he became the broadcaster for the World Hockey Association’s New York Stars. He was also the play-by-play man for the New York Islanders and the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association.

New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling speaks with Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on April 20, 2024, in New York, New York. (New York Yankees/Getty Images)

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He spent years on the airwaves in Atlanta before he returned to New York to broadcast Yankees games. He called more than 5,000 straight games for the Yankees from 1989 until July 4-7, 2019. He started to work a reduced schedule in 2022 before retiring altogether in 2024.