Boone, Judge talk legacy of John Sterling, who 'brought that New York theater to the ballpark'

NEW YORK – The next time his team seals a victory, Aaron Boone knows exactly what he’ll do. From his perch near the top step of the dugout, the manager will channel John Sterling’s famous gyrating call, as if he’s leaning into the broadcast microphone himself.

Boone doesn’t have to imagine it. He’s already been doing it for years, a not-so-silent tribute to the legendary broadcaster, who passed away on Monday at 87.

• 10 of Sterling's most iconic Yankees HR calls

“My coaches look at me like I’m nuts; I don’t even know if they know what I’m doing,” Boone said. “But as soon as that final out is made and I get up to shake players’ hands, I go, ‘Ballgame over, Yankees win, thuuuu Yankees win!’ And I’m shaking all my coaches’ hands. I’ve got goosebumps thinking about it.”

Describing himself as a kid who grew up with Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn under the pillow calling Phillies games, Boone said he’s long been a fan of Sterling’s distinct style, calling him “a giant in the sport who did it his own way.”

“Like a lot of Yankees fans, anytime there was a big moment or a big game, I couldn’t wait to get home and hear how John called it,” Boone said.

Yankees captain Aaron Judge said he spent time before Monday’s game against the Orioles revisiting a selection of Sterling’s classic calls, including Judge’s 62nd home run in 2022, which surpassed Roger Maris for the American League record.

“He brought that New York theater to the ballpark, I think is the best way to describe it, with such enthusiasm,” Judge said. “There’s almost a kid up there in the broadcast [booth] talking about the games. I went back and listened to him calling 62 – how he described it, the Yankees right fielders, [Babe] Ruth, Maris and Judge. It was incredible.”

Judge also recalled a lighter moment, when Sterling was struck by a Justin Turner foul ball during a 2023 game against the Red Sox. He kept going.

“He was able to play that off so well,” Judge said. “Some people might get hit by a foul ball and say, ‘Hey, mute me for a second here while I get through this.’ But that was the way he did it. The fans were there with him in the booth, whether they were in the car listening or at home.”

Suzyn Waldman, who partnered with Sterling in the Yankees’ radio booth from 2005 through his 2024 retirement, described Sterling as “an older brother” and called his style unmistakably New York.

“It all came from his heart,” Waldman said. “It came from his gut. The World Series in 1996, when they’re all on the pitchers’ mound – he didn’t have anything written down. That’s why people loved him.”

Michael Kay, who worked alongside Sterling on radio from 1992 through 2001 before moving to the YES Network, fought back tears Monday on his ESPN Radio show. He shared that Sterling had been rehabbing from open-heart surgery, hoping to walk his daughter, Abigail, down the aisle this summer.

“He was really pushing it, and I said, ‘John, don’t push yourself too much,’” Kay said. “He said, ‘Michael, I have to walk her down the aisle.’ And that’s why he was hanging on. But he had trouble about a week ago. … The one thing he wanted to do, he was unable to make it.”

Though Sterling provided the soundtrack to nearly every Yankees moment of the past four decades, one notable call wasn’t his: Boone’s pennant-winning home run in Game 7 of the 2003 AL Championship Series.

With Sterling and Charley Steiner alternating innings, Steiner had the microphone when Boone launched a Tim Wakefield knuckleball into the left-field seats. Sterling chimed in moments later: “Ballgame over, American League Championship Series over, Yankees win, thuuuu Yankees win!”

Dropping in for the last part, Steiner said on the broadcast: “I’ve always wanted to do that!”

Boone revealed Monday that, years later, Sterling re-recorded his own version of the call.

“Suzyn once handed me a tape when I was with ESPN and said John made a tape of him calling it, which is so John,” Boone said. “In all honesty, I don’t know where the tape is now, I’m sad to say. But I definitely listened to it. What a neat guy.”