Getting To Know John “Jack” Sloss, Harry Moskowitz, John Sterling…Or Whatever His Name Is…
Posted by Steve L. on October 5th, 2011 · Comments (13)
This is a great read on John Sterling.
At some point, the Yankees are going to pull the plug on him. I just wonder who will get his job…
I will miss him. I’m one of his biggest fans.
I hope they’re not considering “puuling the plug” on him. I like him a lot.
thanks to john I’m a Yankee fan.. hope he stays forever!
Not a fan, but I realize and understand his place in Yankees lore/history. He may be a ham, but he’s been here for quite some time; he’s an institution, and the current voice of the Yankees.
Sterling only works as a radio announcer if you’re a blind, Yankee homer. If you’re at all an adult, he’s an epic failure at the single most important duty of a radio play-by-play man: an accurate call of the game. All the idiotic signature home run calls and “Theeeeeeeeeeee Yankees Winnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn”s in the world can’t make up for the fact that if you’re unfortunate enough to be stranded in the car, with no other choice but to be forced to listen to Sterling/Waldman, you could run out of gas before they give you the score, and heaven help you trying to figure what’s going on in the game 20% of the time.
I don’t care if they hire Regis, Nanny Fine, or Cousin Brucie get this guy out of here. Enough is enough. John doesn’t call the game he gives you his opinion of the game. What happens on the field takes a back seat to what John thinks about what happened. What kind of absurdity is this? To understand how bad John is, set the DVR for a Yankee game, go into another room and listen to John’s radio call for a few innings, then go back and watch those same innings, you’ll never believe your ears again.
It’s like Lincoln Center booking Weird Al Yankovic.
@ Evan3457:
@ Joseph Maloney:
Yeah, and that’s why I’m one of his biggest fans. He’s absolutely awesome and makes me feel at ease, I guess that’s because I have one of those smart phones that tell me the score and I already know a bit what’s gone on. I have never felt that I don’t know something because of John’s call of the game, I actually feel I learn a bit more than just the score when I tune in.
He reminds me of a crazy uncle. I happen to love talking with all of my crazy uncles and listening to all their theories about this, that, or the other.
If I wanted to listen to a seriously boring baseball game on the radio then I’d tune into a Mets. Nothing I “love” hearing more than: “PUT IT IN THE BOOKS!!!!”.
Pff!
To each their own. Going from listening to so many games from Phil Rizzuto, then to Sterling was like a perfect segway. At least for me.
Rizzuto never worked the booth alone, at least not for all nine innings. Rizzuto always worked best when there was someone in the booth with him; someone who was usually able to keep the people listening updated on what was actually happening during the game.
I’ll say it again: the first responsibility of a play-by-play radio man is to provide the listeners with an accurate description on what’s happening during the game, because the radio listener can’t see what’s happening. Sterling is a miserable failure at this, and crazy uncle stuff doesn’t begin to make up for it.
I don’t mind if crazy uncle is in the room with me, throwing in his inane two cents every other play, if the game is on television, and I can see for myself what’s happening. But if I’m listening to the radio, and can’t see the game, crazy uncle drives me…crazy.
Evan3457 wrote:
Why do you assert this? For me it’s not true at all – he paints a very fine picture of what’s happening on the field and I have no trouble imagining what’s going on in the game. He tells me how the fielders are shading and what depth they are playing. After the play, he goes back over what happened – where the catcher set, where the pitch was, how the ball bounced, how the fielders moved to cover it. What else do you need?
Criticism of Sterling’s personality, the silly home run calls, I could understand that – it’s a matter of personal taste. But my mind seriously boggles at the notion that he’s a “miserable failure” at the one thing I really enjoy listening to him for! I can’t even believe we are listening to the same broadcasts. I’m really stunned by this.
Love Sterling. I’ll be sad if/when he goes.
@ satchel:
Agreed.
Sterling is constantly botching the play-by-play. Everyone Yankee fan I talk to IRL on a regular basis is in complete agreement about this.
satchel wrote:
It’s not an assertion, it’s a fact. He doesn’t make an accurate playcall. Waldman has to help him correct himself way too often.