Longtime New York Yankees radio play-by-play announcer John Sterling ended his time as the voice of the team rather unceremoniously, which shocked many within the sports media world. And nearly two months after making retirement, Sterling discussed what went into the decision.
For someone like Sterling, who was synonymous with some of the greatest moments in the history of the organization, to retire without any kind of grand sendoff felt a bit odd.
During an appearance on The Show Podcast with Jon Heyman and Mike Vaccaro on Tuesday, Sterling opened up about his abrupt retirement, making it clear that he is at peace with his decision and quite happy with his life outside of the broadcast booth.
“I’m very much happier this way. I have no problems,” said Sterling. “I have no worries about, ‘Oh, I want to do it now.’ No, I’m fine. Everything is good. And people did worry that there is something physically wrong with me, and that’s untrue. Completely untrue. That’s not the case at all.”
Sterling also said that even after his retirement, he makes sure to watch every Yankees game from home, which should come as no surprise considering he only missed two games throughout his 35-year tenure as the Yankees radio voice.
However, he did somewhat regret how he went about his retirement, saying that he wished he had done so before or during this year’s spring training.
“I really knew it in my heart. I should’ve announced it in spring training or before spring training,” said Sterling. “But I figured I’d give it a shot. I was going to do a limited schedule—maybe 100 games, 110 games or whatever. I just found it very tough to keep going to the ball games.”
It obviously would have been nice for Sterling to get a proper sendoff with a bit more notice. But it is great to hear that his retirement was on his own terms, and that he is seemingly living his best life outside of baseball.
[New York Post Sports on YouTube]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.