John Sterling honored by Yankees for 36 seasons and 5,631 games as radio voice
NEW YORK (AP) — After 36 seasons as the voice of the New York Yankees, John Sterling needed just 90 seconds to say goodbye.
Sterling was honored with an on-field ceremony before Saturday’s 2-0, 10-inning loss to Tampa Bay, five days after the 85-year-old broadcaster announced his retirement 2 1/2 weeks into the season. Flanked by his family, Sterling received gifts that included a jersey with No. 5,631 for his games total, and then addressed the sellout crowd of 47,629.
“What I really want to do is to thank you and I’ll tell you why,” Sterling told the fans, who stood through the tribute. “Person after person, group after group, have come to me with kindness, respect and love, and how lucky can you be for people to celebrate what you do for a living? You know, I had to bring these people up and I had make money to do it. So you, the fans have been phenomenal to me over the past 36 years.”