John Sterling retires: Yankees legend had most unique storytelling style
TORONTO – John Sterling is a Broadway guy.
He’s a stage and movie musical guy, someone who appreciates a classic Gershwin tune – "How about you?" as he’d no doubt add – or a witty Cole Porter lyric, especially from "Kiss Me, Kate".
From this moment on, to borrow a Porter title, Sterling will be taking in Yankees games like me and you, listening to someone else describe it on the radio.
And as longtime radio broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman succinctly said, “Nothing will ever be the same.’’
Baseball as grand theater, narrated in Sterling’s unique way, might not suit all tastes. But he had his own style, and as the lyricist Sammy Cahn wrote, “if you’ve got it, it stands out a mile.’’
That brand of vintage, musical language is a Sterling staple, something I’ve had the good fortune to share with him since the day I arrived on the Yankees travel beat.
I’ll always recall his warm introductory greeting on that first day, in Kansas City, and was a little stunned until learning that John was, and remains, a regular reader of our paper, The Record.
One of Sterling’s joys is having several newspapers to read, with his breakfast, at a local diner – a pastime that has also diminished with the advent of electronic media.
HOME RUN CALLS: John Sterling's best moments as iconic Yankees broadcaster
Some of the standby restaurants on the road have closed, but John is always open to a dinner invitation - something I’ll hold him to in his retirement.
The go-to is classic steakhouse and classic Italian, and tradition calls for one at the bar before dinner, the pregame show before the main course.
A favorite spot, the Prime Rib in Baltimore, is John to a tee; old school waitstaff, jacket required, a piano player in the lounge working standards, and a bartender who can mix a good martini.
In the dining room, the stories flow, opinions are given, but it’s always a give and take, not unlike a good broadcast.
John’s inquisitive nature is constant, to which my friends Anthony McCarron, Dom Amore and Peter Botte, fellow members of the old guard, can attest.
And it’s always fun to bring the newer writers to dinners with John, getting to know the voice they’ve heard since they were playing Tee-Ball in Jeter jerseys.
Once that voice is heard in a restaurant, and eyes turn to see the Voice of the Yankees holding court, John is naturally gracious in posing for photos and chatting about the team.
I’ve often heard him say how amazed he’s been at the kindness he receives in public, how his home run calls are recited back to him, how – now borrowing from Cole Porter – they get a kick out of you.
Which brings to mind…
If you had an idea for a home run call and wanted to present it to John, it was best to have something he could sing. Something old Broadway, or something Frank might have recorded.
And if he liked it enough to incorporate it in a call, well, you felt like a songwriter who got a greenlight from Sinatra; it was going in the album.
How to put a ribbon on this appreciation of John Sterling?
Let’s go to Irving Berlin.
“The song is ended, but the melody lingers on."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: John Sterling retires: Yankees legend had unique storytelling style