John Sterling, the unmistakable voice behind decades of New York Yankees baseball, has died at 87, marking the end of an era for generations of fans who grew up listening to his iconic calls.
The news was announced on WFAN, where listeners first learned of the legendary broadcaster’s passing. No cause of death has been revealed.
Sterling grew up a Yankees fan on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, listening to games on the radio and studying the craft from broadcasters of all kinds.
He began his career as the Yankees’ play-by-play announcer in 1989. Over the course of 36 years he called 5,631 Yankees games, including eight World Series appearances. By the end of 2024 when Sterling retired, he was known as “The Voice of the Yankees.”
Throughout his more than three-decade career, Sterling coined quite a few catchphrases.
“It is high, it is far, it is gone!” was his trademark home run call, while “Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeee Yankees win!” became his iconic victory call. “This one is headed for Monument Park!” was also a phrase you’d hear after a player hit an exceptionally long home run.
He even had personalized home run calls for each player, from “Burn, Baby, Burn!” for Williams to “An A-bomb from A-Rod” for Alex Rodriguez.
Sterling’s tenure behind the mic coincided with some of the most iconic chapters in Yankees history.
He called every game of Derek Jeter’s 20-year career and every pitch thrown by Mariano Rivera. He also hosted uniform retirement ceremonies for Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, and Joe Torre–among others–and was on the call when Aaron Judge launched his 62nd home run in 2022 to set a new American League single-season record.
For many fans, his voice was as much a part of the Yankees as the pinstripes themselves.
Though Sterling was a finalist for the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award (which honors broadcasting excellence) on multiple occasions, including for 2025, he did not win the award.
For decades, fans didn’t just watch the Yankees–they heard them through John Sterling. And long after his final sign-off, that voice will keep echoing through summers in New York.
