Comments (0) Best sports announcer - 2006
John Sterling
The guilty pleasure is a way of life for fans of that capitalist tool the New York Yankees. Veteran play-by-play man John Sterling embodies the paradox of loving the super-rich franchise that made Johnny Damon cut his hair. Long a shill for George Steinbrenner's evil plot to build a stadium near Penn Station at city expense, he still sounds all too sincere intoning the evil slogans "Fox News—we report, you decide" and "Indian Point—safe, secure, vital." But give him this; he collaborates respectfully and productively with the only play-by-play woman in the major leagues, Suzyn Waldman. Sterling's orotund tones are among the most physically compelling in sports; he goes down as easy as Bing Crosby. What's more, he knows baseball, and however often he says, "You gotta throw strikes" and "You can only hit it, you can't aim it," both bear repeating. His home run calls—"Bernie goes boom," "Bern, baby, Bern,"and 1,300 ways to enthuse "The Yankees win!!!" are justly renowned. And no TV mouthpiece would ever watch Nick Green wave at strike three and say, "That was the worst swing I've ever seen."
