NEW YORK, NEW YORK — John Sterling, the longtime radio voice of the New York Yankees, has died at the age of 87. Sterling broadcast Yankees games on radio from 1989 until his retirement in April 2024.

Over that span, he called 5,420 regular-season games and 211 postseason games for the team, and was on the call when the Yankees won five World Series titles. He was known for his passion, knowledge and exclaiming "The Yankees win!" after victories.

Major League Baseball said in a statement, "Through his unique style and passionate play-by-play calls, Sterling endeared himself to generations of players and fans as radio voice of the Yankees from 1989 to 2024." The league added, "His signature punctuation of Yankees victories included calling the final out of five World Series championships."

Sterling used home run salutations including "Burn Baby Burn" for Bernie Williams, "A Thrilla from Godzilla" for Hideki Matsui, "It's an A-bomb from A-Rod" for Alex Rodriguez, "Robby Cano, don't you know," and "Giancarlo, non si può stoparlo" for Giancarlo Stanton.

He worked 5,060 consecutive games between 1989 and 2019. After missing two games in the 1989 season following the death of his sister Jane, he did not miss a game for 30 years until a health issue forced him to skip contests in July 2019. He missed several games during the 2020 season with a blood infection that required a brief hospital stay. During a 2023 game, he was hit by a foul ball and returned to work the next day.

His broadcasting career spanned eight decades, beginning at a small radio station in Wellsville in the late 1950s. Before joining the Yankees, he covered the NBA's Hawks and MLB's Braves in Atlanta and the NHL's Islanders and NBA's Nets in New York and New Jersey. A father of four, Sterling won 12 Sports Emmys during his career and was nominated for baseball's Hall of Fame.

Sterling cited fatigue from travel as a reason for retiring just after the 2024 season began. He told broadcaster Rickie Ricardo that he had suffered a heart attack in January.

WFAN Sports Radio said in a statement, "We are devastated to hear about the passing of John Sterling, a WFAN and Yankees radio icon whose voice was synonymous with an entire generation of Yankee fandom." Longtime broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman said, "He is more comfortable in his own skin than anyone I have ever met in my whole life."