Yankees Fans Chant for Late Radio Voice John Sterling During Orioles Game

Fans at Yankee Stadium changed their usual player roll call Monday night during the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles to honor John Sterling, the longtime radio announcer for the New York Yankees.

Chants for Sterling rose from the bleachers and seats in the Bronx on a somber Monday for baseball fans in the tri-state area and across the country.

Joe Girardi, a YES Yankees analyst and former Yankees manager, mourned the loss of Sterling's iconic voice. He knew Sterling as a player, manager and media colleague. "Just sadness because I know how much he meant to the organization, to the Yankees, to me, [and] to people," Girardi told Fox News Digital in a phone interview Monday.

"I’ve always loved to be around people that have such a great passion for what they do. John truly had that. He had a gift, but he truly had a passion. For that, his example was great. I miss him. I miss hearing him on the radio because there’s a lot of times I’m traveling and I’ll put the game on the radio. I have SiriusXM radio and listen to games. I miss it. I miss hearing him and Suzyn [Waldman]."

Waldman, Sterling’s longtime partner on WFAN Sports Radio, spoke with Girardi Monday after the news broke. "She said something that really resonated with me about John. She goes, ‘John only did what he wanted to do and never did anything he didn’t want to do.’ You think about living your life – that’s a good life," Girardi said. "I think of things I do that I don’t want to do, but I do them anyway. That wasn’t John Sterling. He lived his life to the fullest. He enjoyed it, enjoyed being around people, and was ready to go and do his job. He brought life into your family room, or into your car, or wherever he was at and whatever he was doing."

Sterling spent 64 years in broadcasting. He joined the Yankees in 1989 and held the post until April 2024. He returned for postseason broadcasts as the team reached the World Series for the first time since Girardi’s 2009 squad beat the Philadelphia Phillies.

Girardi recalled his favorite interaction with Sterling from his managing days. "I think the interactions that I remember the most, and it was well into my career obviously. I was the Yankees manager and John was doing the pre-game," Girardi said. "We do it every day and John would have his old tape recorder, and have his phone with him. We were in the middle of the interview and he stops the tape. He takes his phone out of his pocket, flips it open because then they were flip phones. He says, ‘Darling, I’m doing the manager’s show. I’ll call you back in three minutes.’ I’m thinking, ‘Who does that?’ He beats his own drum so much, he stopped right in the middle of the show, and I believe we started over. But obviously that call was very important to him. When I think about it today, and this was many years ago, I still laugh today. This was early in my career as a manager because Suzyn took over, and I just sit laughing. That was John Sterling."

Sterling drew fans with his signature home run calls. They started with "It is high, it is far, it is gone!" followed by a catchphrase or song. Examples included "It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod" for Alex Rodriguez and "Here comes the Judge!" for Aaron Judge.

"Always curious what that was going to be," Girardi said. "And I was thinking, ‘How do you come up with that?’ He was so creative – I wasn’t given that gene. He was so creative, I always wondered how he thought of it, how long it took him to think of it, and he never missed a beat. A guy got called up and hit a home run the second day? He had it. It was there."

Girardi, now older, appreciates Sterling’s talent and the grind of calling 162 games plus spring training and postseasons over years. He called 5,060 consecutive games.

Girardi valued Sterling’s personal care most. "What you saw was how much he cared about you as an individual and how much he cared you had success," he said. "That was the amazing thing about John: he wanted you to have success and for the Yankees to win. It meant something to him. It wasn’t him just doing a job. This was a huge part of his life, and the enjoyment it brought him, you could see it."

"He was an example of how you were supposed to live," Girardi said. "Find your passion and do it as long as you can. Joe Torre used to always say, ‘Don’t ever take your uniform off until they take it off you.’ That was John Sterling. That’s the sign of a man who truly loves what he does. That’s an example that we all need to look forward."