John Sterling, longtime radio voice of Yankees, dies at 87

John Sterling, the radio voice of the New York Yankees for parts of 36 seasons, has died. He was 87.

Sterling's death was announced Monday by New York-based WFAN Sports Radio and confirmed by the Yankees.

Sterling joined the Yankees' broadcast in 1989, calling 5,420 regular-season games and 211 postseason games before retiring in April 2024. The native New Yorker was in the booth for 5,060 consecutive games from September 1989 to July 2019, when he missed a series with an illness.

"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," WFAN said in a statement.

Sterling was on the air for 24 Yankees postseason trips, seven World Series appearances and five World Series titles.

Known for his signature "The Yankees win!" victory call and his personalized home run calls, Sterling spent his last 20 seasons with the Yankees working alongside Suzyn Waldman.

"Through his unique style and passionate play-by-play calls, Sterling endeared himself to generations of players and fans as radio voice of the Yankees from 1989 to 2024," Major League Baseball said in a statement. "His signature punctuation of Yankees victories included calling the final out of five World Series championships."br/]