John Sterling, Yankees’ radio legend, dead at 87, WFAN reports

John Sterling, the legendary radio voice of the Yankees, has died, according to WFAN . He was 87. Rickie Ricardo, Sterling’s friend and the Spanish-language radio play-by-play voice of the Yankees, confirmed the news to NJ.

com’s Randy Miller on Monday morning. Ricardo said that Sterling died after being hospitalized on Saturday. A 16-time Emmy winner, Sterling retired as the Yankees’ radio broadcaster in 2024 after 36 seasons in the booth.

He was revered for his iron-man status — at one point calling 5,060 straight games — and his famous “The Yankees Win! ” sign off after victories, as well as his signature home run call, “It is high, it is far, it is gone! ” “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,” WFAN posted on X .

Sterling called 5,420 regular-season games, the last against Toronto on April 7, plus 211 postseason games. His consecutive game streak lasted from September 1989 through July 2019 after starting with the Yankees as a pregame host. His partners included Jay Johnstone (1989-90), Joe Angel (1991), Michael Kay (1992-2001), Charley Steiner (2002-04) and Suzyn Waldman (since 2005).