The John Sterling I knew, and the one whose voice felt personal to all
From saved voicemails to iconic calls, a tribute honoring John Sterling and a baseball broadcasting era we will not see again.
NEW YORK – Naturally, you could never bring yourself to delete a voicemail because of… that voice. And that big, familiar baritone – the casual sound of summer, the narrator of so many signature Yankees moments from their last great baseball era – would now and then leave a call. Like a mini broadcast, just for one person.
It was 30 seconds of John Sterling talking about restaurant reservations. It was John Sterling about a score from a Broadway musical, or what the Yankees really should be doing instead of that, then circling back to the who-what-when details of dinner. In that moment, you were the only listener.
And damned if there wasn’t something so special about that, and that you now realize nine saved voicemails (of the 12 currently on your phone) are Sterling calls? This morning brought the calls and texts that John Sterling was gone. He was already, upon his play-by-play retirement, among the last in a baseball broadcasting class we’ll never see again.
Identified by his team. By his unapologetic, unique on-air style. By a passionate appreciation for the legends he followed and admired, like Mel Allen.