John Sterling wasn’t going to let a mere foul ball stop him on Saturday.
The Yankees’ play-by-play announcer was hit by a foul ball off the bat of Justin Turner in the ninth inning of the Bombers’ 3-1 win over the Red Sox on Saturday night, but continued to call the game and is reportedly OK.
“Ow, ow, ow. It really hit me,” Sterling said on the broadcast. “I didn’t know it was coming back that far.”
He quickly returned to focusing on the 3-2 pitch to Turner, who grounded out to end the game.
The 84-year-old Sterling, who worked 5,040 consecutive Yankees games from 1989-2019, has begun to take a lighter workload in recent years, recently missing a road trip to the West Coast.
Justin Shackil has filled in as Sterling’s replacement while he’s been out.
Sterling has missed 23 games thus far in 2023, with Shackil starting to be viewed as his eventual replacement, when the legendary broadcaster decides to hang up his headphones.
There still could be some time between now and then, however, as evidenced by Sterling’s tenacity on Saturday.
The Yankees are scheduled to finish out their series against Boston on Sunday before going across the city for two games against the Mets.
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