Why John Sterling is my favorite sportscaster

For my sports reporting class, we had to write about who our favorite sportscaster is, and why. I wrote about John Sterling, the radio voice of the New York Yankees. I'm aware that I wrote a post way back when chastising Sterling. Since then, I have seen the light:

When asked to write about who my favorite announcer is, I had to do some thinking. I’m an avid Yankee fan, but I hate Michael Kay with a passion. I love the Giants, but they don’t have local television announcers. From here, I had to turn my attention to the radio, and that is where I found my favorite announcer. My favorite announcer is John Sterling, the radio voice of the New York Yankees.

Now, before you judge, I think Sterling is a terrible broadcaster. But that is not the question at hand. The question is, “Who is my favorite sportscaster?”

Sterling is my favorite announcer because he is the only announcer that I get excited to listen to. I watch most of the games on television, so it is a treat when I have to listen to the game on the radio. When I am driving and the Yankees are on, I rush to tune to WCBS-AM 880 to listen to him call the game. I don’t listen to him for his broadcasting prowess. I don’t listen to him to increase my baseball knowledge. I listen to him to be entertained, and he is the only person that can hold that honor. When I put him on, there is always a chance that his partner, Suzyn Waldman, and he will say something that will make me scratch my head and wonder what they are talking about.

Sterling paints a horrible picture of the game. He will say that a ball is high and far, only to be caught at the warning track. I wonder how many car accidents have been caused by Sterling blunders. While he is frustrating to listen to on the radio, it doesn’t change the fact that he is a showman. Sterling is a comedian on the air, but I doubt he is trying to be funny most of the time. He is also probably the biggest goofball to ever broadcast. He is extremely fun to imitate while playing pickup Wiffleball games or even watching the game on television.

For all of his faults, Sterling loves his job. He never misses a game and obviously has a great time doing what he does for a living. The YouTube video of him doing his famous “Yankees win, the-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e Yankees win!” call is absolutely hilarious and even more fun to mimic.

As I am writing this, Game 4 of the 2001 World Series is airing on the YES Network with Sterling calling the game. Sterling reminds me of baseball and my beloved Yankees. That is why he is my favorite sportscaster.