John Sterling made sure to practice this season before returning to the radio booth.
“When someone hits it, [Aaron] “When Judge hit the ball, I was lying in bed saying, 'High, far,'” Sterling said.
Sterling, the voice synonymous with Yankees baseball, left his bedroom and headed to the ballpark again on Tuesday to begin a brief comeback by calling Orioles games on WFAN.
The plan is for Sterling to call the remaining six regular-season games (all home) and then the entire playoff series, regardless of how long they last.
For the 86-year-old Sterling, who retired after 36 years and more than 5,000 consecutive games as play-by-play announcer, the issue wasn't operating the microphone.
As he said in an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, “I'm open to talking.” The issue was the amount of long-distance travel required for a 162-game season.
But this final stretch, an opportunity offered by WFAN president Chris Oliviero, shouldn't be too taxing.
“It's a bit scary. [being back]”The truth is, I didn't want to do this every day,” Sterling says.
“Chris asked me, 'How's the trip? [to the playoff games]”I said, 'In the playoffs, we'll only be on the road for three games.' I think we'll be ready. We'll see how it goes.”
Suzyn Waldman, a radio commentator for Yankees games, never expected her longtime booth partner to step in front of the microphone again, but she understood Sterling's love for his job better than anyone.
“I had a hunch that he was going to miss it at some point,” Waldman said. “Not necessarily coming back, but I knew he was going to miss it, because what he loved so much was the game. It was the other stuff. The road. 162 games. And obviously at this age you don't want to go on the road. But he's going to do it now and he's very excited.”
For decades, Waldman and Sterling have endured, informed and entertained together, enjoying a friendship and professional bond based on a shared view of sports. Meanwhile, the network has yet to identify a permanent replacement for Sterling and has been rotating several candidates in the booth with Waldman this season.
“We grew up as the same generation, we watched the same game,” said Waldman, 78. “And I think we look at the people on the field, and we see the whole game, because we were raised learning the game differently than we do now.”
“I didn't look at the iPad and tell them what the odds were. I looked at the way the batters were hitting and I knew what the odds were. I watched the game the same way. I think that's it.”
Sterling will be difficult to replace.
“John is the Mel Allen of this generation, of three generations,” Waldman said, “because generations have grown up with John Sterling and only ever known him as the voice of the New York Yankees.”
Sterling will retire again from his play-by-play duties in the coming weeks, but said he hopes to continue his radio career with his own weekly show.
He'll have to pitch the idea to radio stations, but one of the personal highlights will be his appearance on the air next February 1, exactly 65 years after his first radio job.
“It's a lot of work,” he joked. “We'll see how it goes. Of course, you'll have to pay me.”
