John Sterling Bytes

In case you need a little fix of Sterling, here’s a link to several sound bytes. Man, is he awful or what?

Howie Rose Kicks John Sterling's Butt

This is the series I live for! Yankees v. Mets!

Is it the rivalry? No. Is it the bragging rights? No. Is it the novelty? Not any more.

I love the Subway Series for one simple reason: I get to listen to the Yankees on the radio without having to listen to John Sterling. Whenever the cross-town rivals do battle, I tune in to WFAN, the Mets flagship station, and enjoy play-by-play the way it should be.

Baseball fans frequently like to compare teams player by player. When that comparison measures Yanks against Mets, the scale tilts heavily towards the pinstripes. First base? Check. Second base? Check. Starting rotation? Check. Broadcast booth? Flushing, we have a problem.

Any advantage Text has over Ike, any lead Jeter has over Reyes, is dwarfed by the way Howie Rose eclipses John Sterling.

Accuracy? Check. Likeability? Check. Home run call? Don’t even get me started.

Am I ready to switch stations for 162 games a year. No way. I’ll take pinstripes over blue and orange any day. But as far as this weekend is concerned, you’ll find me to the left of the dial, rooting for the Yankees, loving life, and enjoying the best baseball announcing New York has to offer.

John Sterling on Ernie Harwell

OK, let’s give credit where credit is due. Sterling did a nice 70-second remembrance of Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell, who passed away last week at the age of 92. In a break from his normally egomaniacal delivery, Sterling shares some gracious words about Harwell and recalls that, when he was a boy, he listened to Harwell and “got a little taste of his flavor.” He should have paid more attention. Here’s the clip.

The John Sterling Effect

As you know, this site is dedicated to pointing out how John Sterling’s antics usually get in the way of his Yankees broadcasts. Well…we’ve been one-upped.

In a thoughtful post on Bleacher Report, Leslie Monteiro blames Sterling for the decline of sports announcers in general. It makes a great deal of sense and is definitely worth a read. Click here for the story.

Cloudy With a Chance of Stupidity

We know John Sterling is one of the worst baseball announcers, but he might make an even worse weatherman!

During today’s pre-game show from an overcast Fenway Park, Sterling clarified the weather situation with this: “There’s a chance of a thunderstorm, but not of rain.” OK…so it won’t rain…but thunderstorms are likely. Rest easy, Al Roker. Your job is safe.

UPDATE -- It rained. Hard.

John Sterling is a Hippie

We know there’s the Sterling Shake. And the Hippy Hippy Shake. Now get ready for John Sterling the Hippie.

Cleary, Sterling loves the past. Some of his latest home run calls have their inspiration in the 1940s and 1970s. Now, Steeling is tipping his hat to those hippy, dippy 1960s.

At the end of yesterday’s game, Sterling proudly declared that “Everything is groovy in Yankeeland!” Groovy? Really? I’m all for a little slang from the summer of love, but not when I’m listening to a baseball game in 2010.

Dead Horse to John Sterling:“Stop Beating Me!”

The only thing John Sterling loves more than…John Sterling, is a catch phrase he can beat to death. Yesterday, when the Yanks bullpen almost blew a lead in the ninth, Sterling found one.

As the Orioles threatened to tie the game, Sterling declared “This is life without Mariano.” OK. We get it. Mariano is on the shelf and it was a decent observation. But in Sterling’s world, anything worth saying once is worth repeating ad nauseam. And so a few seconds later, he repeats himself as though the thought just popped into his head, “This is life without Mariano.”

To make matters worse, as soon as Suzyn Waldman started her Star-of-the-Game interview, she jumped on the bandwagon with…you guessed it…”This is life without Mariano.”

Cut to commercial. Come back to the broadcast, and how does Sterling begin his post-game wrap up? You guessed. So “this is life without Mariano.” I would be willing to bet he repeated it at least two more times, but I had to turn the radio off because I just couldn’t take it anymore.

I am left to hope and wait for the day when I can once again enjoy a Yankee radio broadcast. The day when Yankee fans can rejoice. The day when we experience “life without Sterling.”

Ernie Harwell 1918 - 2010

Hall of Fame baseball announcer Ernie Harwell died Tuesday at the age of 92. Harwell was an on-air mainstay in the Detroit area, calling Tigers games for 42 seasons. Read Mitch Albom’s thoughts on Harwell’s passing here.

City of Brotherly Love

This is a little off topic, but last night Phillies security tasered a 17-year-old fan who jumped the fence and started running around the field at Citizens Bank Park. Was this overkill or did the fan get what he deserved?

I am all for the separation of players and fans, but this seems a bit over the top. Here's a video, what do you think?

You Can't Handle the Truth!

While listening to John Sterling, you learn to question facts. Just because he calls a player by a certain name doesn’t mean that’s really who he is talking about. What is high and far and gone often is low and short and caught. But Sterling is not alone.

In fact, many of the greatest baseball legends of all time are more titillation than truth. Here’s a list of the 50 Biggest Baseball Myths I thought you might enjoy. After reading this, Sterling’s fiction may be a little easier to take. Have fun!