John Sterling (sportscaster)

John Sterling (born July 4, 1938; né Sloss ) is an American sportscaster, best known as the radio play-by-play announcer of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees.

He changed his name to Sterling and began his broadcasting career in Baltimore, where he served as the play-by-play announcer for the then-Baltimore Bullets for the 1970–71 NBA season.

He also did play-by-play for Morgan State University football, a role that he held from 1971 to 1978.

Sterling came to New York broadcasting as a talk show host with WMCA in 1971.

He later served as the radio voice for the WHA's New York Raiders, the WFL's New York Stars, the NHL's New York Islanders (where he was paired with Bob Lawrence), and the ABA/NBA's New York/New Jersey Nets (where he was paired mainly with Mike DeTomasso).

Sterling also did a stretch with the Yankees as pre-game host on WMCA and WINS radio, as well as co-host on cable segments with Mel Allen.

From 1975 through 1980, Sterling announced Nets and Islanders games for WMCA, WVNJ, WOR-TV, and SportsChannel New York, continuing his WMCA talk program until 1978.

After his initial stint in New York, Sterling spent nine years in Atlanta hosting a sports call-in show on WSB radio and covering the Braves (1982–1987) and Hawks (1981–1989) for Turner Sports.

Sterling called 5,060 consecutive Yankees games, beginning in 1989, before taking a four-game break in July 2019.

Sterling was born John Sloss and grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the son of advertising executive Carl H. T. Sloss.

Sterling is Jewish.

He briefly attended Moravian College, Boston University, and the Columbia University School of General Studies before leaving school to begin his career in radio at a small station in Wellsville, New York.

In 1989, Sterling returned to New York to broadcast the games for the Yankees on WABC radio.

He has been with the Yankees ever since, currently calling games on WFAN radio and its affiliates in the New York Yankees Radio Network.

They have presided at the "Key to the City" ceremonies following Yankee World Series victories in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2009.

The pair often serve as masters of ceremonies on and off the field for major Yankee events, including the 2000 ticker-tape parade held in the Yankees' honor after their World Series win.

Since 2005, he has been paired with Suzyn Waldman; past announcing partners include: Jay Johnstone (1989–1990), Joe Angel (1991), Michael Kay (1992–2001), and Charley Steiner (2002–2004).

In 2013, the Yankees announced a move to WFAN for ten years, and Sterling was retained.

He is currently under contract through the 2023 season.

On October 18, 2021, Sterling signed a new contract with WFAN for 2022 with the potential for a reduced schedule.

On June 6, 2022, Sterling announced that he would start working on a reduced schedule in the second half of the MLB season, primarily taking time off from traveling to road games outside of the northeastern United States.

He will continue to do road trips to Fenway Park, Citi Field, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Sterling has emceed several Yankees pre-game ceremonies including the number retirements of Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera's number retirement in 2013 and Monument Park induction (2016), and the 20th anniversary of the Yankees' 1996 World Series victory in 2016.

His long association with the Yankees has earned him the nickname "Pa Pinstripe" from New York Daily News writer Bob Raissman.

In 2022, Sterling reduced his workload by calling fewer games on the road, saying that he was getting tired of making road trips.

From 2013 through 2017 Sterling announced the Kitten Bowl on the Hallmark Channel.

On September 20, 2018, as part of a promotion called “Rivalry in the Booth”, Sterling and Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione switched places in the fourth inning.

On December 16, 2018, Sterling called the Brooklyn Nets–Atlanta Hawks game on the YES Network.

Sterling has several idiosyncrasies that mark his broadcasts as distinctive, very unusual, if also divisive.

In addition to a colorful vocal personality, Sterling has distinguished himself for sometimes characterizing plays differently than they may appear and for his announcing errors, habits that spark high feelings in fans and lead to comparisons with announcers like Phil Rizzuto.

From June 29-30, 2019, Sterling called the first MLB games played in Europe.

Sterling took his first days off since 1989 from July 4, 2019, until July 7, 2019.

Sterling's association with the Yankees is not limited to announcing live games over the radio.

He is also host of the YES Network's Yankeeography series, which produces biographies of New York Yankees.

Among several nominations, Sterling has received two Emmy Awards for the series.

He also hosts the introductions and recaps for Yankees Classics.

In addition, Sterling has a nightly commentary feature on WCBS newscasts called "Sterling on Sports", in which he gives his take on a recent sporting event or sports news item.

This commentary airs nightly during the 6:15 pm sports report.

Sterling and former broadcasting partner Michael Kay commonly work together representing the Yankees.

They announce the annual Yankees' Old-Timers' Day.