John Sterling is happy to be back.
The venerable radio voice of the Yankees for 36 years returned to the WFAN booth Tuesday night, kicking off a comeback that will see him announce the remainder of the team’s regular season and playoff games.
“It’s very exciting,” Sterling told the Daily News from his broadcast chair before calling the series opener against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium.
Sterling, 86, retired from his play-by-play job on April 15 after calling 5,420 regular season games and 211 postseason contests between 1989 and the start of this season.
The Yankees honored Sterling with a pre-game ceremony in the Bronx five days later, and Justin Shackil and Emmanuel Berbari handled the bulk of the play-by-play duties over the next five months.
But as the season neared its homestretch, Sterling’s WFAN boss, Chris Oliviero, asked if he would consider rejoining Suzyn Waldman, his on-air partner of two decades, for the Yankees’ biggest games.
“The games, working with Suzyn, is such a pleasure, and I’ve really missed that,” Sterling said Tuesday. “But outside of that, I didn’t miss getting to the stadium, and shaving, and getting dressed, and doing all the things, and I certainly haven’t missed the road trips. I watch and listen to every game, so I’m in it as much as you can be in it.”
Sterling’s voice has long been synonymous with Yankees postseason highlights. He called five World Series championships, including in 2009 alongside Waldman.
“The way that everybody is treating it, it’s getting to be like Christmas morning when you’re getting ready for a package to be opened,” Waldman told The News of Sterling’s return. “The fans are so excited in every place we’ve been. I was in Seattle, I was in Oakland, and people were talking about John coming back.”
Tuesday marked the beginning of the Yankees’ final regular season homestand. After those six games, Sterling will remain on the call through the postseason, including on the road.
“They asked me to do this last week and kind of get in shape, and it’s all home,” Sterling said. “And then Chris asked me, ‘What about the road? Can you do that?’ In the playoffs, you’re only gone for two games or three games and you’re back home again, so that part’s made it very easy.”
Fans were unaware that Sterling was considering retirement before his mid-April announcement, meaning no one knew they were listening to his final broadcast on April 7.
Now, they’ll get another chance to hear Sterling call Yankees games in what he described as his “last hurrah.”
“One of the things I’ve always thought is you should be able to say goodbye, and he didn’t,” Waldman said.
“He was just gone. He had the press conference and they gave him a day, but he never got to talk to the fans,” she said. “There are generations that have grown up with John Sterling, and all of sudden he’s gone and something is missing out of your life. I think this is a terrific thing for him.”