NEW YORK – John Sterling will return to the Yankees broadcast booth for the upcoming postseason, MLB.com has confirmed.
Sterling, 86, is coming out of retirement to call the Bombers’ home and road games in October on WFAN, as first reported on Thursday by The Athletic. Sterling will rejoin his longtime partner, Suzyn Waldman, and is expected to call a few regular-season games later this month to prepare for the playoffs.
In April, Sterling abruptly announced his retirement after experiencing fatigue following the Yankees’ season-opening road trip to Houston and Arizona.
He was celebrated in a Yankee Stadium sendoff on April 20, then returned to the booth on Aug. 20, acknowledging a T-shirt giveaway honoring the 20 seasons he and Waldman partnered in the radio booth.
During that appearance, Sterling worked two innings of play-by-play on the radio and was also a guest in the YES Network television booth for an inning.
“I love the games,” Sterling said that night on YES. “You know, when I’m sitting there with Suzyn, I’m comfortable and it’s the easiest thing in the world. But getting to all of them … not at my age, and I’ve really worked a long time. Sixty-four years on the air, you figure that’s enough, right?”
According to The Athletic, WFAN presented Sterling with an offer to return on Thursday, which he accepted. Yankees executives signed off on the move last week, according to the report.
Sterling is expected to resume his retirement after the Yanks’ postseason run. Waldman has partnered with several replacements this season, including Justin Shackil, Rickie Ricardo and Emmanuel Berbari.
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