Celebrate NY Yankees’ Opening Day with Five Hilarious John Sterling Moments
Happy Opening Day, baseball fans!
It's been 148 days since the Texas Rangers were crowned World Series champions, and now, all 30 teams across Major League Baseball are set to compete for the same honor in 2024.
Some teams, like the Braves, Dodgers and Yankees, are primed and ready for deep playoff runs. Other teams, like the Athletics and Red Sox...well, there's always next season.
Specific to the Yankees, however, they're set to begin their 122nd season in Major League Baseball, and will pursue World Series title No. 28. GM Brian Cashman was busy this offseason, acquiring impact players like Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo and Marcus Stroman to help bolster the Yankees' roster.
As the Yankees get set to square off with the Houston Astros this weekend, the team's radio play-by-play announcer, John Sterling, gets set for year No. 36 in the New York broadcast booth.
In honor of John's return to the microphone this season, we put together a few of our favorite moments from John's illustrious Yankees' broadcast career.
1. "A Pop Foul...Back Here!"
This moment certainly wasn't hilarious at the time, but it has aged like a fine wine. A foul ball took a deflection right in front of Sterling, and hit him in the forehead.
Like the trooper that he is, Sterling did not flinch, and took the collision like a warrior, after which he continued broadcasting the game as if nothing happened.
2. "Because Stanton Caught the Ball!"
To be fair to John Sterling, I would've never expected Giancarlo Stanton to make this catch, either. Every play-by-play broadcaster needs a great color analyst, and Sterling's compañera, Suzyn Waldman, shines in this moment.
3. "Now, What Did I Do Wrong?"
Nothing like a bit of self-deprecating humor from John Sterling. He puts all of his energy into a home run call for Giancarlo Stanton, only to realize (sort of) that the ball never left the ballpark.
Then, the classic line follows...
4. "IT IS GONE...But Caught!"
Sterling, like the crowd at Yankee Stadium on this night, wanted nothing more than to see this ball fly over the fence. It would've tied the game, a game being played against divisional rival, Toronto.
Raimel Tapia had other ideas, however, and it took Sterling an extra moment to realize that a home run had not been hit.
5. "Unfortunately, That Was a Replay of the Homerun!"
These darn replays are getting SO realistic!
As some of you may have forgotten, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many broadcasters were not traveling to road games with their respective teams. That meant that broadcasters around the world, including John and Suzyn, had to rely on television broadcasts in order to do their jobs.
Unfortunately (but fortunately for all of us), this particular replay caught John Sterling by surprise.
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