Veteran New York Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling was back behind the microphone Sunday apparently no worse for wear after he was struck in the head by a foul ball.
Boston designated hitter Justin Turner was facing Yankees reliever Clay Holmes in the ninth inning of New York’s win on Saturday when the DH fouled a pitch straight back.
The ball ricocheted into the booth and struck the 84-year-old Sterling in the head, and he couldn’t hide the pain.
“Now the 3-2 (pitch), swung on, a pop foul back here,” Sterling called before the ball bounced into the booth and into his head. “Ow, ow, ow, it really hit me! I didn’t know it was coming back that far.”
Sterling kept his composure, and moments later, Turner grounded out to end the game, launching the veteran radio man into his signature, elongated call: “Ballgame over. Yankees win. Theeee Yankees win.”
Sterling was back at the mic Sunday and his broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman presented him with that infamous ball, with a bandage and an autograph from Turner on it.
“To John: No matter where you sit at a ballgame you’re never safe. Justin Turner,” wrote Turner, the longtime Los Angeles Dodgers star in his first season with Boston.
Sterling laughed and thanked Waldman and Turner for the kind gesture.
This wasn’t the first time Sterling has faced a dangerous situation connected to his work.
During the 2021 season, he was forced to call road games from Yankee Stadium due to travel restrictions brought on by the pandemic.
Sterling had finished calling a Yankees game, played in Anaheim, California, when he drove home on Sept. 1 and encountered heavy rains from Hurricane Ida.
He became stuck in his car before Spanish radio play-by-play man Rickie Ricardo rushed to Sterling’s location in New Jersey and pulled him from the flooding vehicle.
