00:00Shine time on a Monday. We'll get into everything going on in sports. We'll get
00:04into the Knicks. We need to start with the passing today of John Sterling. John
00:10Sterling, legendary play-by-play voice of the New York Yankees, passed away this
00:15morning at the age of 87. I'm a die-hard Yankees fan, so obviously when I heard
00:20the news, I was sad. I was crushed. I also think it's incredibly important to
00:26celebrate the life and the career of John Sterling, who was the voice of summer, the
00:33voice of October, a voice that for me literally spans generations. Growing up,
00:40listening to John Sterling, celebrating John Sterling with my dad, celebrating John
00:46Sterling with my son. When you start talking about the bond of baseball and
00:51baseball on the radio, it's John Sterling. He was just the ultimate performer, always
00:58wearing a suit with a pocket square to every single Yankee game that he called. He
01:03had a flair, just an unbelievable moment for the dramatic and the event that was New
01:10York Yankee baseball and calling Yankee baseball. He was Mozart, Picasso, Sinatra. He
01:18was the ultimate entertainer. The Yankees win! Signature call at the end of every single
01:26game. Ball game over. Yankees win. Pouring his heart and his soul and his passion into every
01:34single Yankee broadcast. That's baseball, Susan, when something bizarre would happen. He was
01:40absolutely iconic. Listening to John Sterling and Susan Waldman, their give and take during a Yankee game
01:48as Susan's doing the scoreboard was just a thrill. He didn't know what he was going to say next. And
01:55of
01:55course, the amazing moments, the iconic calls, back to back, belly to belly. I was always just
02:03absolutely enamored with John Sterling and his call with Bernie Williams and the home run. I just loved
02:10it. Burn, baby, burn. That was my personal favorite. The thriller from Godzilla when Hideki Matsui would put a
02:18charge into one. A G-Tarian blast. The way he would absolutely ham up an Aaron Judge home run. Just
02:26incredible. All rise. Here comes the judge. You're on the mark, Teixeira. A text message. Just
02:34incredible. Georgie Juice one for Posada. Shane Spencer, the home run dispenser. Oh, man. I loved every
02:45single second of a John Sterling call. And look, I'm 48. Next month, I'm turning 49. So I was in
02:55that
02:55sweet spot for when the Yankees became greats and listening to John Sterling call Yankee games and
03:01great Yankee moments. You know, when the Yankees won in 96, that was the first championship I saw for
03:08the Yankees. And I'm watching that with Joe Buck on the call on Fox. But you needed to find the
03:14Sterling call to solidify it. What his reaction would be when the ball against the Braves went into
03:20Charlie Hayes' glove. That is all that mattered. It wasn't a full Yankee moment unless John Sterling
03:27was behind the microphone. Think about 2001 and everything post 9-11 in the country. And then
03:34what the Yankees did with Tino Martinez and Scott Brocious against Kim. And that was just one of the
03:40all-time great moments. And John Sterling with his passion and appreciation and understanding
03:47behind the microphone. And obviously chronicling Derek Jeter's entire career.
03:52A Jeterian blast. And Jeter against the Red Sox in 2004 for diving into the stands head first.
04:00That was absolutely amazing. I thought one of my all-time favorite John Sterling calls,
04:06I'll give you one that might even seem random. Jason Giambi. The Giambino! I was always obsessed
04:14with. And I love Giambi. I loved his attitude and his swagger and everything that went into the
04:18equation. And he was scuffling, if you remember, when he joined the New York Yankees. And it was
04:23a Friday night. It was against Minnesota. It was in the rain. Extra innings. And Jason Giambi
04:29had that earned the pinstripes moment and absolutely just crushed one deep into the night.
04:36And it was a bomb. And John just absolutely called it perfectly. It was incredible. And I mentioned
04:43those sweet spots, right, of my age. You know, I mentioned my son. I mentioned my dad. You know,
04:49even my friends, right? I mean, we were all Yankees fans growing up. And, you know,
04:54whether it was, you know, the college years and we'd be home and we'd be at a barbecue or swimming
05:00in our friend's pool or playing basketball. We'd have the transistor radio listening to a Yankee game.
05:06If I was in the car, I would schedule a drive where I'm listening to John call a game because
05:11I would
05:12just laugh and be entertained. And listen, he would always have the Sterling Malaprops.
05:17It didn't matter. He loved the Yankees. It didn't matter if a home run was actually high
05:22or far as long as it was gone. And even if it wasn't, you laughed because Sterling was
05:28hamming everything up. I was so lucky to get to know John Sterling and he was so great to me
05:34in my
05:35career. He was a mensch. He loved having fun with my last name when, you know, we started working
05:41together and I got a break and started working in my early 20s, 23 years old at WFAN. And Sterling
05:48was so great to me on my Sirius XM show, would always come on and have fun and quote from
05:53shows
05:54and just was an unbelievable human being. And this, this one hurts. I mean, John Sterling,
06:00the way he performed, the way he loved the Yankees, the way he just touched generation upon
06:06generation, the amazing rapport between the Yankee fan and John Sterling. It's something
06:14that honestly, it's, if you're not a Yankee fan, you know it and you understand the Yankees
06:19win. And it was so important to baseball during those incredible Yankee days, whether you love
06:24the Yankees or hated the Yankees, you knew John Sterling's voice. I mean, the milky Cabrera
06:30call, the milkman always delivers the panchino for Dino Martinez. I mean, it was just amazing.
06:38I still don't even know what the home run call actually was when a Giancarlo Stanton would hit
06:43it, but I laughed every single time. You know, he just fawned over Alfonso Soriano. If you remember
06:48when, you know, during his rookie season and then A-Rod after the trade, man, this was a rough
06:55one today, but it's also a great appreciation of life and that connection, right? And look,
07:00the way you consume sports, the sports world has changed. You know, how you interact and how you
07:06appreciate and listen to sports. You don't always listen on the radio anymore. It was such a fabric
07:12of me and my friends and my dad and my brother and my mom and my kids and, ah, just
07:18special,
07:19special stuff. There was only one John Sterling and man, I'm lucky to have called him a colleague
07:25and a friend, lucky to have been a Yankee fan and have him be the soundtrack of, of summer
07:30and October and so many just magical, passionate moments that John just loved, loved the action
07:37and being a part of. Before we get to the rest of the show, I want to look back on
07:41some of
07:41the most legendary calls from John Sterling's career.
07:46There it goes. It is high. It is far. It is gone. Back to back. And a belly to belly.
07:53The Giavino. A gorilla by Godzilla. It's an A-bomb from A-Rod.
08:01Burn. Baby burn. El. Capitan. Robbie Cano. I don't you know. Georgie Jusua.
08:10D.D. LeFloria. It's Yankee fans. Euphoria.
08:14Oh, the milkman delivers. It's baseball season. That's so hit. New York is so hit.
08:20Mark sends a tits message. One of the best games you'll ever see.
08:24Perfect game. Baseball. Immortality. The Bam Tito with two outs in the bottom of the night.
08:33Gone. Number 62 to set the new American League record.
08:40All right. Here comes the judge.
08:44Ball game over. American League Division Series over.
08:49American League Championship Series over. World Series over. Yankees win. The Yankees win.
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