Joe Girardi mourns John Sterling as a Yankees legend and iconic voice

The Yankee Stadium crowd changed its usual roll call during Monday night’s series finale against the Baltimore Orioles to honor a legendary man synonymous with the team’s long history.

On a somber Monday for John Sterling, the New York Yankees’ longtime radio announcer, chants rose from the stands and seats in the Bronx for baseball fans in the tri-state area and even across the country.

Joe Girardi was among those mourning the loss of the iconic voice he had the pleasure of knowing throughout his baseball career as a player, manager and media colleague. Like most, Sterling’s impact was one Girardi felt immediately, so there was only one emotion when he heard the news.

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“I just feel sad because I know how important he was to the organization, the Yankees and me. [and] Girardi, who serves as a YES Yankees analyst, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview Monday.

“I always loved being around people who were so passionate about what they did. John really had talent. He had a talent, but he really had a passion. The example he set for that was great. I miss him. I miss hearing him on the radio because a lot of the time I’m traveling and I’ll put the game on the radio. I have SiriusXM radio and I listen to the games. I miss him. I miss hearing him and Suzyn.” [Waldman]”

Waldman, Sterling’s longtime partner at WFAN Sports Radio, was one of the people Girardi spoke to Monday after hearing the news.

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“He said something about John that really resonated with me. He said: ‘John only did what he wanted to do and never did anything he didn’t want to do.’ You think about living your own life; it’s the good life,” Girardi explained. “I think about things I don’t want to do, but I do them anyway. He wasn’t John Sterling. He lived his life to the fullest. He enjoyed it, he enjoyed being around people, and he was ready to go do his thing. He brought life to your family room or your car or wherever he was and whatever he was doing.”

Sterling was in the broadcasting industry for 64 years, but left his mark on one of the most iconic organizations in all of sports when he joined the Yankees in 1989 and didn’t leave his position until April 2024.

Even then, Sterling returned to the radio booth for the Yankees’ postseason broadcasts, and they returned to the World Series for the first time since Girardi’s 2009 team won at the Philadelphia Phillies.

Girardi said he remembers his favorite interaction with Sterling during his time as manager, staying true to the extraordinary character and man he was.

New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling performs an Old Times Day ceremony before the game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 30, 2022 in New York City. (Zengin Schultz/Getty Images)

“I think the interactions I remember most, and frankly, were important to my career. I was the manager of the Yankees and John was doing the pregame,” Girardi began. “We do this every day, and John had his old tape recorder and his phone with him. We were in the middle of the interview and he stopped the tape. He took his phone out of his pocket and turned it on because they were flip phones back then. ‘Darling, I’m scheduling your manager. I’ll call you back in three minutes,’ he says. ‘Who’s doing this?’ I think. He beats his own drum so much that he stopped right in the middle of the show and I think we started over. But obviously this call was very important to him. When I think about it today, which was years ago, I still laugh today. This was early in my career as a manager because Suzyn took over and I sat and laughed. That was John Sterling.”

Sterling was also known for his signature home run hits; It was something Girardi and others looked forward to hearing when a player would hit over the fences.

They always started like this: “High, far away, gone!” before moving on to a slogan or even a song. For Alex Rodriguez, “This is an atomic bomb from A-Rod” or the latest “Here comes the Judge!” When Aaron Judge had a blast.

“I always wonder what it will be,” Girardi added. “And I said, ‘How did you find that?’ I was thinking. He was so creative that 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 how he never missed a beat. A guy was called up on the second day and scored? He had it. It was there.”

FILE – In this Sept. 25, 2009 file photo, New York Yankees broadcaster John Sterling sits in the dugout before the Yankees’ baseball game against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in New York. On Wednesday night, September 1, 2021, Spanish radio play-by-play man Rickie Ricardo helped Sterling out of his flooded car after Sterling got stuck trying to get home after a game. Sterling and Ricardo called New York’s game at the Los Angeles Angels from Yankee Stadium because radio crews were unable to continue traveling with the team under COVID-19 protocols. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

Girardi admitted that as he got older, he increasingly appreciated how gifted and talented Sterling was, as well as the grind he went through over the years, starting 162 games through spring training and multiple postseasons.

But more valuable to Girardi than the accolades, autograph calls and 5,060 consecutive games was the care he showed to everyone he encountered.

“What you saw was how much he cared about you as an individual and how much he cared about you succeeding,” Girardi said. “That’s what was incredible about John: He wanted you to be successful and for the Yankees to win. It meant something to him. He wasn’t just doing a job. It was a big part of his life, and you could see the joy it gave him.”

Old cliché; If you do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.

For Girardi, Sterling did more than that.

New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling talks to Aaron Judge before the game against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 20, 2024 at New York Yankee Stadium. (New York Yankees/Getty Images)

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“He was an example of how you should live,” he said. “Find your passion and do it for as long as you can. Joe Torre always said: ‘Never take your uniform off until they’re off you.’ That was John Sterling.

“This is the sign of a man who truly loves what he does. This is an example we should all look forward to.”

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