John Sterling leads the Yankees to a 5-2 victory over the Guardians in Game 5 of the ALCS on Saturday night, clinching a 10-inning overtime finals (and qualifying for the World Series for the first time since 2009). He had many iconic moments. , the legendary play-by-play broadcaster turned to one of his staples.
“The ball game is over, the American League Championship Series is over,” Sterling began after Juan Soto caught the final out in right field. “The Yankees won. Oh, the Yankees won.
“And the Yankees are having a blast on the field. It's a group hug like at the end of 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show.' It's a group hug and they jump up and down. amazing. wonderful. ”
The Yankees' victory on October 19th sealed their right to play in the World Series. Robert Szabo of the New York Post
He used a similar call at the end of the ALDS (minus the 1970s sitcom reference) after the Yankees defeated the Royals to secure a spot to play Cleveland for a chance at the pennant.
Sterling ended his final call Saturday night by mentioning the Yankees' seven wins in nine postseason games and the upcoming World Series against the Dodgers or Mets.
Sterling hit two iconic home runs early in the game, including Giancarlo Stanton's fourth homer of the series and fifth of the postseason, tying the score at 2-2 in the sixth inning.
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Then, after the Yankees put two runners on base against Hunter Gaddis in the 10th inning, Soto drew a foul on a long at-bat, forced Gaddis to continue throwing, and hit a ball over the center field fence for five points. gave. 2 leads.
After three outs, Lane Thomas flied to right, Soto recovered the ball, and Sterling was able to make the final call to put the ALCS ahead and the Yankees' celebration began.
Sterling called Yankees games for 36 years before retiring in April, but agreed to come out of retirement near the end of the regular season for his final postseason appearance and call both home and road games. and returned to WFAN broadcasts for which he won a prize. He represented the Yankees in winning the title, using the final series of the regular season as a tune-up before the playoff sprint began.
And now Sterling will be playing in the World Series again.
