John Sterling, the longtime radio voice of the New York Yankees whose career spanned more than three decades and included five World Series championships, died Monday at the age of 87.

WFAN confirmed Sterling’s passing but did not provide details about where he died or the cause. Earlier this year, he had suffered a heart attack in January.

Sterling joined the Yankees broadcast booth in 1989 as the team’s play-by-play announcer and remained in that role for 36 years. During that time, he called 5,060 consecutive games, along with 211 postseason contests, before missing his first broadcast in July 2019. In total, he described 5,631 Yankees games, including eight World Series, and by the time he stepped away in 2024, he had earned the nickname “The Voice of the Yankees.”

His tenure coincided with one of the franchise’s most successful periods. He called every game of Derek Jeter’s 20-year career and every pitch thrown by Mariano Rivera. He also served as emcee for the retirement ceremonies of numbers worn by Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, and Joe Torre, among others. He was on the call when Aaron Judge hit his American League-record 62nd home run in 2022.

“He’s synonymous with those five championships (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009),” longtime broadcast partner Michael Kay said. “If you’re coming into people’s homes, at the beach, the pool or their car, and you’re constantly telling them good news — it made him part of the Yankee firmament. He became a part of forever, because those championships are never going to go away.”

Sterling was married to Jennifer Sterling for 12 years, and together they had four children: Abagail, and triplets Veronica, Bradford, and Derek.

Born John Sloss, Sterling grew up on Manhattan’s Upper East Side as a devoted Yankees fan, listening to games on the radio and studying announcers. Broadcasting the team became a lifelong ambition.

“I am a very blessed human being,” Sterling said in a statement announcing his retirement. “I have been able to do what I wanted, broadcasting for 64 years. As a little boy growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, I was able to broadcast the Yankees for 36 years.”

A member of the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Sterling was known for his deep voice and unmistakable style, which drew both admiration and criticism. His enthusiastic delivery and open-rooted support for the Yankees became a defining part of his broadcasts. His booming call of “The Yankees win” became one of his most recognizable trademarks. He also created personalized home run calls for players, beginning with “Burn, Baby, Burn!” for Bernie Williams, and later including lines such as “An A-bomb from A-Rod” for Alex Rodriguez and “Robbie Cano, don’t you know?” for Robinson Cano.

Although he worked almost entirely in radio, Sterling approached each broadcast with the same formality as television, regularly wearing a suit and tie.

“It’s like he gets in that chair and it shoots life through him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s at home when he’s in his office. It’s a remarkable career, to be able to do it like that and as long as he did it. He’s left quite a mark on this organization and the game of baseball.”

His delivery was marked by distinctive quirks, including elongated pronunciations and a rhythmic cadence. Before each pitch, he would say, “Thuuhhh pitch,” and after a win, “Thuuhhh Yankees win!”

“He was so witty, smart,” Judge said. “As a kid, you always heard it. You watch old Yankees games. You hear the old broadcasts.”

Sterling often recalled that his interest in sports and radio began early. Though he was not particularly strong academically, he spent much of his time listening to broadcasts and imitating announcers. He recognized his deep voice as an asset and said, “I learned I could use it to adapt to different radio styles,” he told The New York Times in 2011.

He attended Moravian College and Boston University before returning to New York following his mother’s death. He later enrolled at Columbia University’s School of General Studies. His broadcasting career began in 1961 at a small radio station in Wellsville, New York, where he also adopted the name Sterling. After working in Providence, Rhode Island, he moved to Baltimore, where he began incorporating sports into his programming and gained opportunities to call games for the Baltimore Colts and Bullets.

Sterling returned to New York City in 1971 to work at WMCA, where he became known for his outspoken style.

“He would hang up on people and berate them: ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’” said Jim Rosenhaus, a Cleveland Guardians radio broadcaster. “It was awesome. We’d go to school the next day (and say), ‘Did you hear what John Sterling said last night?’ There was barely any sports talk back then, but he’d get on and just shred people.”

He also called games for the New Jersey Nets and New York Islanders, developing his signature flair, including assigning nicknames and using energetic catchphrases such as “Goal! Islanders goal! Islanders goal!”

“If you didn’t know first names on the team,” Rosenhaus said, “you had no idea what he was talking about. Going back to the ABA days, their teams were phenomenal, led by Dr. J. His play-by-play was, ‘Doc’ has it at the top of the key, down low to ‘The Whopper,’ outside to ‘Super John,’ the ‘BT Express’ has it now.’ … If you didn’t know who these guys were, then you were lost.”

In 1981, Sterling moved to Atlanta, joining TBS and WSB Radio while calling games for the Braves and Hawks. During that time, he became known for his energetic descriptions of Dominique Wilkins’ dunks, often declaring, “Dominique is Magnifique!”

Sterling’s tenure with the Yankees began in 1989 when he took over play-by-play duties for WABC. Early in that role, he had a memorable encounter with team owner George Steinbrenner in a hotel elevator in Fort Lauderdale.

“It was just the two of us,” Sterling said, “and George said to me, the way he talks, ‘I just want you to know that I always wanted you to do Yankees games.’”

From that point on, Sterling embarked on a remarkable streak of consistency that drew admiration from colleagues.

“I never once turned on the radio and said, ‘Boy, John sounds tired.’ He always brought his ‘A’ game,” Blue Jays and ESPN broadcaster Dan Shulman told Yankees magazine in 2024.

“Showing up to perform virtually every single day since 1989, he was a pillar for Yankees fans who relied on the comfort and familiarity of his voice to be the soundtrack of their spring, summer and fall,” the Yankees said in a statement upon his retirement. “Given the tremendous care he had for the team and his performance on the air, it’s not a stretch to believe that our fans live and die with every pitch because John Sterling did the same.”

Sterling spent 10 seasons working alongside Michael Kay before Suzyn Waldman joined him in 2005 as color analyst, forming a partnership that became beloved among fans, who enjoyed their exchanges as much as the game itself.

At times, Sterling drew criticism for prematurely calling home runs that turned into outs or for inaccuracies attributed to declining hearing and vision.

He was also known for resisting modern technology. He did not use a smartphone or the internet, instead relying on newspapers when traveling and reading books, often suspense or crime novels. At home in Edgewater, New Jersey, he kept multiple televisions to follow several games at once.

“He’s one of a kind,” Waldman said. “There will never be another person like that, to have that kind of love for a team and that kind of love for his fan base.”

His consecutive games streak ended on July 4, 2019, when illness forced him to miss three broadcasts.

“Think about that,” Mets broadcaster Howie Rose said at the time. “Some Yankees fans have never heard anyone but John’s voice for the entirety of their life.”

Sterling’s dedication to his work was evident even during major personal moments. In 2000, his wife gave birth to triplets on the same day as Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. After being present for the birth in New Jersey, Sterling later called the Yankees’ win over the Seattle Mariners and traveled with the team.

“John,” Brosius said, “didn’t you just have triplets? Why are you on the flight?”

“Nothing more I can do,” he said.

Health issues began to affect Sterling later in his career. In 2020, he missed time recovering from a blood infection, and the demands of travel became more challenging. In 2023, he was struck by a foul ball in the broadcast booth, suffering a cut above his eye, but continued calling the game.

Sterling retired in 2024 after feeling exhausted following early-season travel. He stepped away abruptly on April 15, and the Yankees honored him with a pregame ceremony shortly afterward.

“I hate packing, unpacking, traveling, getting to places, et cetera, et cetera,” he said. “But the games themselves, they’re as easy for me to do as anything I do.”

He later returned briefly to the broadcast booth for the final week of the regular season and postseason, concluding his career after the Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. He went on to host a weekly radio program on WABC through much of 2025.

“How lucky can you be, for people to celebrate what you do for a living?” he said.