Derek Jeter congratulates John Sterling on ‘amazing career’ after Yankees retirement news

MLB

By Christian Arnold

Derek Jeter showed some Re2pect to John Sterling. 

The Yankees legend and baseball Hall of Famer congratulated Sterling on his broadcast career that came to an end on Monday. 

Sterling announced his retirement officially after serving as the voice of the Yankees since 1989. 

“Congrats to John Sterling on an amazing career,” Jeter wrote on X. “I’ve had the pleasure of listening to and working with John for decades. He is a major part of Yankee history and will be greatly missed.”

Sterling was on the call for all five Yankees championships that Jeter was part of starting with his first World Series title win in 1996. 

The famed broadcaster was behind the mic for Jeter’s leadoff home run in Game 4 of the World Series in 2000 against the Mets and had the call when The Captain had a walk-off base hit to win the final game at Yankee Stadium. 

In 2017, Sterling recalled during an interview with Steve Serby of The Post what it had been like to call Jeter’s opening day in 1996. 

“It was freezing in Cleveland, and Jeter makes that phenomenal catch of the pop fly in short left, and hits a home run but he’s not a home run hitter,” Sterling said. “What I remember most, I did postgame, and I got in the clubhouse, and David Cone said, ‘Hey, I want to show you something.’ And it was so cold his fingers were blue. But it had nothing to do with the cold, he was having an aneurysm.”

Sterling will be honored on Saturday by the Yankees and he will make an appearance in the WFAN booth during the radio broadcast. 

“I am a very blessed human being,” Sterling said in a statement about his retirement. “I have been able to do what I wanted, broadcasting for 64 years. As a little boy growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, I was able to broadcast the Yankees for 36 years. It’s all to my benefit, and I leave very, very happy. I look forward to seeing everyone again on Saturday.”