Ryan Ruocco was supposed to call the three-game series in Toronto between the Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Plans have changed though. The Yankees and WFAN have decided that John Sterling will be on the radio broadcasts the rest of the way.
Andrew Marchand of the New York Post was the first to break the news on Twitter. He says the return was Sterling’s idea. He did not want to miss the chance to call some of the most significant home runs of Aaron Judge’s historic season.
In June, Sterling announced that he would build between 25 and 30 days off into the second half of the schedule. He was not facing any health concerns. He just wanted to avoid traveling as much as possible.
“It is just to recharge my batteries,” John Sterling told The New York Post at the time. “I’ve been doing road games with teams for 52 years. I love this game, but I hate being on the road.”
Justin Shackil, Rickie Ricardo, Howard Kellman, and Brendan Burke are among those that have called games on Sterling’s days off.
As of September 19, Aaron Judge has hit 59 home runs on the 2022 season. That is two shy of Roger Maris’s 1961 mark of 61 home runs, which is a record for both the New York Yankees and the American League.
John Sterling is not the only Yankees broadcaster hoping to be a part of history. Last week, YES Network play-by-play man Michael Kay admitted that “it will be a bummer” if the landmark shots happen in games that aren’t airing on the YES Network.
