From the first time I heard it, that call of: “Theeeeeeeeeee Yankees win!” always caught my attention, the extravagant cry that has accompanied every victory of my favorite team, the New York Yankees, for the last 36 years. The first time I heard that victory cry was in the early 2000s, when the Yankee dynasty defeated the D-Backs with Derek Jeter's sensational walk-off home run against Byung-Hyun Kim in the tenth inning of the Game 4 of the World Series. Actually, I had no idea who was the announcer of that deep, enthusiastic and cheerful voice that called the Yankees games. In Cuba we didn't have enough internet access to discover it either, so it was practically impossible to answer my doubts.
Oh my goodness! This is why reading Yirsandy Rodriguez is so important for all baseball fans everywhere. Here I sit in the middle of the U.S., with all media easily available at my fingertips. And yet, it took my pal in Havana, writing a column about one of his favorite baseball play-by-play radio broadcasters, for me to get the news that the great John Sterling, the "Voice of the New York Yankees" for 36 years, retired on Monday of this week! I started listening occasionally to Sterling and his sidekick commentator Suzyn Waldman 15 or so years ago. I was intrigued by their work -- how smart, well-informed and stylish they seemed -- and then I learned that both had theatrical work in their backgrounds. Like Yirsandy, I've loved the special touches that Sterling and Waldman have brought to their broadcasts. I grew up in Iowa listening to Major League Baseball on radio, and to this day, I think that there is special magic about following games on radio as opposed to TV. The radio broadcasters lead you into using your imagination about how they are describing the action and the atmosphere in those far-away ballparks. And I think the team of Sterling and Waldman have been among the best at that. They are sophisticated, maybe even erudite, and seem perfect in their roles as radio broadcasters of the by-God New York Yankees! And they are fun! I love knowing that among the thousands -- more likely millions -- of baseball fans they have inspired is Yirsandy Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, whose life and circumstances are almost totally different from the lives and circumstances of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Baseball is a great "connector," you know?
Oh my goodness! This is why reading Yirsandy Rodriguez is so important for all baseball fans everywhere. Here I sit in the middle of the U.S., with all media easily available at my fingertips. And yet, it took my pal in Havana, writing a column about one of his favorite baseball play-by-play radio broadcasters, for me to get the news that the great John Sterling, the "Voice of the New York Yankees" for 36 years, retired on Monday of this week! I started listening occasionally to Sterling and his sidekick commentator Suzyn Waldman 15 or so years ago. I was intrigued by their work -- how smart, well-informed and stylish they seemed -- and then I learned that both had theatrical work in their backgrounds. Like Yirsandy, I've loved the special touches that Sterling and Waldman have brought to their broadcasts. I grew up in Iowa listening to Major League Baseball on radio, and to this day, I think that there is special magic about following games on radio as opposed to TV. The radio broadcasters lead you into using your imagination about how they are describing the action and the atmosphere in those far-away ballparks. And I think the team of Sterling and Waldman have been among the best at that. They are sophisticated, maybe even erudite, and seem perfect in their roles as radio broadcasters of the by-God New York Yankees! And they are fun! I love knowing that among the thousands -- more likely millions -- of baseball fans they have inspired is Yirsandy Rodriguez in Havana, Cuba, whose life and circumstances are almost totally different from the lives and circumstances of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. Baseball is a great "connector," you know?