John Sterling (sportscaster)

John Sterling
John Sterling in 2010
Born	John Sloss (1938-07-04) July 4, 1938 (age 78)
Sports commentary career
Team(s)	New York Yankees (YES Network and WFAN radio)
Genre(s)	Play-by-play

John Sterling (born John Sloss; July 4, 1938) is an American sportscaster best known as the radio play-by-play announcer of Major League Baseball's New York Yankees. He has announced every Yankees game since 1989.

Sterling grew up on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in the East 80s. He was the son of advertising executive Carl H.T. and Gladys (Hodrov) Sloss. According to the 1940 U.S. Census, John was one year old and living with the family in Manhattan when the census was taken on April 4. He briefly attended Moravian College, Boston University, and the Columbia University School of General Studies before leaving school to begin his career in radio at a small station in Wellsville, New York.

Sterling began his broadcasting career in Baltimore, where he served as the play-by-play announcer for the then-Baltimore Bullets for the 1970–71 NBA season. He also did play-by-play for Morgan State University football, a role that he held from 1971 to 1978.

Sterling came to New York broadcasting as a talk show host with WMCA in 1971. He later served as the radio voice for the WHA's New York Raiders, the WFL's New York Stars, the NHL's New York Islanders (where he was paired with Bob Lawrence), and the ABA/NBA's New York/New Jersey Nets (where he was paired mainly with Mike DeTomasso). Sterling also did a stretch with the Yankees as pre-game host on WMCA and WINS radio, as well as co-host on cable segments with Mel Allen.