The longtime voice of the Yankees John Sterling is not leaving his post as of yet, but the New York Post reports that a succession plan is in order.
Andrew Marchand reports that Brendan Burke has emerged as the leader to replace John Sterling when the Yankees broadcaster hangs it up. Sterling, 84, has done Yankees games since 1989.
The story reports that plans for the eventual succession of Sterling will be furthered this offseason. Sterling has trimmed the amount of games he calls in the second half of the season and earlier this summer, WFAN (the Yankees flagship) announced several fill-ins for road trips the team took before the All-Star break. Burke filled-in for the team July 1-6 road series with Cleveland and Pittsburgh. At the time of the announcement, Burke came on Carton and Roberts and seemed overjoyed with the opportunity to fill-in.
“You guys need to understand, this is my great white buffalo, if you will. This is where I got the spark for being a broadcaster. When I was a kid my dad was the Yankee beat writer and so I used to sit between Sterling and (Michael) Kay in the booth when they were together when I was a nine-year-old .”
“To be able to bring this all the way around full-circle,” Burke continued, “is something that’s even more special than just broadcasting the crown jewel of Yankees radio.
Sterling said in an interview with The Post that despite not liking to travel anymore, he still feels good and plans to call a lot more games.
“I’m really happy and I will do as many games as I want to,” Sterling told The Post. “I have to see the schedule.”
The Yankees and WFAN announced an extension of their contract on Wednesday. Sources said that the extension would team the station and team into the 2030s. WFAN was paying the Yankees between $15 and $20 million per season on the last deal.
