In the spring of 1998 I was living alone in a small apartment in Long Beach, California. The internet was as awkward as a teenager back then, full of promise but lacking any direction or purpose. Radio stations were just beginning to stream their live content on line, and since Major League Baseball had not yet caught up with the technology, game broadcasts were available for free to anyone with an internet connection.
I quickly established a baseball driven routine. I’d get home by four or five o’clock each evening, log into AOL.com, and open their distant ancestor to today’s MLB Game Day. A tiny window no larger than two or three postage stamps would keep me updated on the Yankee score as pixels danced across a miniature diamond to show me which runners were on base. Next I’d navigate my way to WFAN to listen to their live feed of that night’s game, not for a minute missing the irony that all this cutting edge technology was giving me nothing more than baseball fans had been enjoying for the previous eight decades — a simple radio broadcast.
Nineteen ninety-eight was a good year to be a Yankee fan, and as I listened to one win after another that spring, I came to know and love the deep tones of John Sterling. His radio partner in those days was a young Michael Kay, and while they worked well together, there always seemed to be the slightest bit of tension between them, with the younger Kay latching onto his three innings of play-by-play in the middle of the game with desperate ambition — or perhaps I was just imagining that.
Sterling, however, was the opposite of desperate. Perhaps it was a holdover from his brief time in Atlanta calling Braves games, but there was something in Sterling’s voice that brought to mind a tall glass of sweet tea, as unhurried as a summer afternoon. As such, his pairing with Suzyn Waldman, which began in 2005, made much more sense than his previous partnership with Kay.
Sterling and Waldman, he 85 and she 77, were often derisively referred to as Ma and Pa Kettle for their folksy banter and nostalgic view of the game, but none of that ever bothered me. I’ve been watching the Yankees on YES for about twenty years now, but one of my greatest pleasures is still listening to a game on the radio as two voices spin a description of the game unfolding before them.
Last week I got in the car and quickly found the game on the satellite radio, but someone different was talking to Suzyn, and it didn’t feel right. I wondered why Sterling would be taking off a home game, but now we know. John Sterling announced his retirement from broadcasting on Monday afternoon, and the booth will never be the same.
Sure, he’s tricked me dozens of times into celebrating a home run as he launched into his signature call (“It is high! It is far…”) only to have the ball fall harmlessly into a fielder’s glove at the warning track, but there’s far more that I’ll miss.
Each one of us has punctuated an important win by singing along, “Ball game over! Yankees win! Thuuuuuuuuh… Yankees! Win!” And don’t we all have a favorite individual home run call? (My favorite: “Downtown goes Frazier!” Simply a work of art.)
We’ll all miss those things, and if we’re being honest, we’ll even admit to missing his cranky nostalgia. “In my day, Suzyn, that ball was simply a ground ball to the shortstop, but now there isn’t a shortstop. There just isn’t a shortstop anymore!” Sure, sometimes it might’ve felt like you were listening to the game with your parents, but that wasn’t a bad thing.
I miss John Sterling already. I’m sure we’ll see him around from time to time, perhaps throwing out a first pitch or coming back to emcee Old Timer’s Day, and his trademark call will likely echo through the Stadium after Yankee wins for years to come, but it’s the natural progression of things. Veterans leave and younger players come along to replace them. That’s baseball, Suzyn.
[Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]
I came here looking for just this, and you delivered, Hank.
Thanks so much for your lovely essay.
I am sad that I missed hearing him call his last live game.
Yet, he's going out like a true Legend. On his on terms.
I didn’t realize he started in 1988, I lit out for Oregon in 1990, bouncing around ever since, not spending much time in NY. Hard to find the games on SiriusXM.
Wonder who I listened to in the early 1980s, especially the west coast games, working the overnight shift for my dad a few summers.
Al Leiter’s kid makes his ML start Thursday.
2nd terrible start in a row. Ugh. Thanks for the write up, Hank. I will miss Sterling for sure.
What the? Stanton scored. Lol...
Dang, Stanton really is a station to station base runner. Lucky he wasn’t out.
Phew, that could have been much worse.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say when your 1-3 hitters are 0 for 6 with 5 strikeouts, that's not a great thing.
I'll also say Carlos Rodon STILL fills me with ZERO confidence every 5th day.
Certainly feels like a 3 game losing streak to me. 1 run yesterday and a gifted run tonight. Oi!
Two runs in 13 innings doesn’t win you games.
Make that 0-7 with 6 strikeouts.
Barf
Is Luke Weaver the official white flag of the 2024 Yankees?
Stanton and most of the others have no fucking chance against this dude.
Gleyber's Shite Day. E2? Sure.
Clue the circus music.
OMG ... 2nd & 3rd ... NO OUT!!!!!
How will we squander it?
Well ... 2 runs in ... OK ... but yeesh, golden sombrero for Tony tonight.
That's it for me.
Fucking Bollocks!
Oh, afternoon game today.
Blech, Gleyber.
A base stealing catcher?
Generous single. Bad defense by the Yankees of late.
That’s better Oswaldo
Might I trouble the Yankees for some offense?
Thank you Soto
Bats need to wake up. Let's Go Yankees!
Double Blech
stantonian!
Stantonian. Do the Yankees have a rally in them?
Trevino ties it up!
Jeez o blue
Judge!
Judge thankfully came through! He needed that!
Ana one
Ana two
Ana three! Ballgame
The replay duded had to use their imagination to overturn that call. Booo.
By the way, I listened to chunks of the first two games on SiriusXM, which always uses the home team's broadcast. It's fun to hear the different teams around the league. Anyway, Toronto's guys are phenomenal. I actually looked forward to listening to the second game. As you can probably imagine, some opposing broadcasts are insufferable.
Jack Leiter strikes out the first MLB hitter he faces.
Hey, offense.
Thanks for that out
Walking the terrorists didn’t work
Great outing by Nestor. Don’t waste it.
Sigh.
Time for a walk off
Crap
Great start wasted.
Psst, Yankees, how about some offense today
Ok one run so far.
Line drive in the box score.
Aw jeez, a balk.
Tired pitcher for the Rays. Verdugo!
2 out ribeyes! Rejoice! AGAIN! WHoo-hoo!
And Trevino
Oswaldo joins the party
Throw strikes, FFS!
Good job, Gil.
Two out walks and singles. Nice!
Not good defense today
phew
There goes most of that lead. Yikes
Time for some insurance please!
Glad I left to do some online banking. Dang but Zelle is confusing
I like day games. Let's go yankees!
Took parents grocery shopping, lunch, walked the terrorists, and now Rocco & Flash?
[67] also known as Flashco
Phew, strikeout!
I wish judge wasn't a black hole in the lineup right now.
Sigh, another fine start wasted.
That's the first pitch I've seen this game.
Blech.
sigh
It’s nice to be 15-8, but man — this offense has some issues.
Two shutouts in three days? Not good.
Haven't been by for a few days.
About Jack Lester: I liked the NYT article about his friendship with our boy Volpe. Among other things, it said that they met "on a playground on the Upper East Side." I figure that's the playground in Carl Schurz Park, a few blocks from the apartment where I grew up and where my mom still lives. Because I'm not sure there are any other playgrounds you'd describe that way -- of course there are a couple in Central Park that you could consider to be on the East Side, but surely you'd say "playground in Central Park."
Anyway, it gave me a little thrill. Good luck, Jack!
And, of course, farewell, John.
Man, 4 of their 8 losses, they have been shut out. Seems like that could bite them this year.
How soon does Boone get ejected tonight?
Stanton!
And Rizzo!!
Hmm, me no like.
Ok, phew.
Yeesh
Fuck you blue.
[85] That top 9th inning caught looking agrees with you. 2 down!
Nice, 4 held up.
So ... been away for a few days ... how will this offense ... offend tonight?
[88] Offensively
Well, Volpe's been pretty offensive since they moved him to #1 in the lineup ... we're off to an appropriate start.
All rise
That was a borderline gift.
[91] I was away ... dealing with a tentacle ... I credit my absence for those runs.
Rats.
Volpe with a triple!
The ol' shutdown inning.
Well that sucks.
Good ol' 5 inning Schmidt
Gotta walk the terrorists
Ugh ... if Aaron Judge's career died because of a fucking Dodgers' shitty bullpen gate?
I'm going to be a very, VERY angry person for a long, LONG time.
Insurance runs
Oh, on MLBN tonight.
Bases loaded, no outs? Yankees will be lucky to get one.
I hate being optimistic
Who could've predicted? A Yankees classic.
Sigh, Gleyber.
Jose can you see!
I laugh to keep from crying. Fucking bollocks!
Should have sent Stanton, I guess?
Well at least the Yankees aren’t getting shut out.
This 8th is starting well. A blown strike 3 call. A bunt that winds up in center field. Sweet.
13 base runners and 1 run??
Last licks. Let's go Yankees!
Yankees lose game in 1st inning. News at 11:00.
And tonight they’re in Milwaukee. 8 pm start.
Soto goes boom
So does Verdugo.
Ugh, boo.
What’s a Trent Grisham? Not that I’m complaining
Gleyber! What is this sorcery, RISP with bases loaded?
Huzzah! Judge with the 2 run bomb.
15 baserunners and 11 runs. That is much better.
Just back from walking the terrorists and its double digits!
All rise,
Dinner, feed the terrorists, and then walk them. No offense, rats.
Volpe!
Boooo urns
Interesting, I’d have called a double play there.
Thank you Gleyber
Here's a headline I would prefer never to read:
"Yanks trade for Uribe"
But it's awfully nice to see our guys swing the bats against him.
Good lord. Come on, Ian, for chrissakes.
Acceptable.
That was a nice nap. Hey double digits again
Lol.
Rizzo was not, in fact, in "scoring position".
This lineup seems to work (at least against these pitchers).
300 for Rizzo. Back to back 15 runs
lol
Bauers is the Brewers' player of the day.
GG.
Although I wanted to see Oswaldo pitch the ninth.
Ballgame. Nice win.
Boo
Thanks for that out O’s
Some nice, easy innings for Clark