Once seen as a leading candidate to succeed John Sterling in the Yankees’ radio booth, 25-year-old Emmanuel Berbari was ultimately passed over in favor of veteran broadcaster Dave Sims. The 72-year-old Sims, who spent his formative years as the Seattle Mariners’ television voice, is set to return to New York and WFAN as Sterling’s successor.
With Sterling stepping away early last season, Berbari and Justin Shackil handled the bulk of the broadcasting duties, with Brendan Burke, Ricky Ricardo, Ryan Ruocco and even Craig Carton rotating in for Yankees games on WFAN.
Despite calling the majority of games, Berbari didn’t land the full-time role.
However, he isn’t leaving the Yankees’ airwaves. According to The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand, Berbari will take over as WFAN’s Yankees postgame host while continuing as the station’s backup play-by-play announcer when Sims is unavailable.
Gary Cohen offered effusive praise for Berbari, labeling him a “very talented young broadcaster,” as the two exchanged pleasantries during an extended Mets-Yankees Rain Delay last June. He did become collateral damage, though, as the No. 1 broadcast booth in Major League Baseball, as voted by Awful Announcing’s readers, took a jab at Michael Kay over a ridiculous one-sided feud.
Berbari may have missed out on the Yankees’ lead radio job, but he’s still firmly in the mix at WFAN.
With a growing resume and endorsements from some of the industry’s best, his career is far from plateauing. And if his steady rise is any indication, this likely won’t be the last time his name comes up in conversations about the future of baseball broadcasting.