Yankees Radio Voice John Sterling Dies at 87

John Sterling, the longtime radio voice of the New York Yankees, has died. He was 87. WFAN Sports Radio in New York announced his death on Monday.

"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," the station wrote on social media.

Sterling suffered a heart attack in January and was said to be in good spirits. He retired from broadcasting in April 2024 after 64 years in the industry.

The sports world mourned Sterling's loss on social media.

Sterling had served as the Yankees' radio play-by-play announcer since 1989, calling multiple World Series titles. Fans knew his signature home run call: "It is high, it is far, it is gone!" He often followed it with player-specific lines, such as "It’s an A-bomb from A-Rod" for Alex Rodriguez and "Here comes the Judge!" for Aaron Judge.

Sterling launched his broadcasting career in 1970 as the play-by-play announcer for the NBA’s Baltimore Bullets. He later covered the World Hockey Association’s New York Stars, the New York Islanders and the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association.

He spent years on Atlanta airwaves before returning to New York for Yankees games. Sterling called more than 5,000 consecutive Yankees games from 1989 until July 4-7, 2019. He shifted to a reduced schedule in 2022 before his full retirement in 2024.