Monday was a sad day across Major League Baseball with the passing of legendary Yankees radio voice John Sterling at the age of 87. Known for his electric home run call and his creative player nicknames, Sterling was an iconic voice not only to Yankees fans, but baseball fans around the world. Many MLB announcers did their own tributes to Sterling during Monday’s games, including his longtime friend and former partner Michael Kay, the current Yankees TV broadcaster. White Sox radio announcer Len Kasper dropped his own tribute to Sterling on Murakami’s home run Monday against the Angels.
Born and raised in New York City, Sterling began his broadcasting career in basketball, serving as the play-by-play announcer for the Baltimore Bullets in the 1970s. He spent time in hockey and briefly in Atlanta before becoming the radio voice of the Yankees in 1989, where he stayed until his retirement in 2024. Unfortunately, he dealt with heart issues throughout the past few months and lost his battle with heart disease. Sterling won 12 Sports Emmy Awards throughout his illustrious career and was a finalist for the Ford C. Frick award in back to back years in 2024 and 2025. This award is given out by the Hall of Fame and includes an automatic induction to an announcer every year. White Sox fans may be familiar with the award, as legendary TV announcer Hawk Harrelson won it in 2017. Though Sterling didn’t win either year, there's no doubt in my mind he's going to be posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame before too long.
Len Kasper continues to prove White Sox employ the best in the business
The White Sox continue to employ one of the best radio booths in the business with Len Kasper and Darrin Jackson, and Len’s tribute to Sterling was memorable and classy. Kasper joined the White Sox in 2021 after previously serving as the TV play-by-play broadcaster of the crosstown rival Cubs. He teamed up with longtime White Sox broadcaster Darrin Jackson, who has been with the organization since 2009, saying radio has always been his passion.
It's official: Len Kasper has joined the White Sox radio team, teaming with Darrin Jackson on @ESPN1000.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) December 4, 2020
Welcome to the White Sox, @LenKasper!
“It was during COVID”, Kasper said. “And I still had those thoughts of wanting to be a radio voice. And then the job opening with the White Sox, and that’s how it kind of came about. I just didn’t want to have regrets if I didn’t try to do the things I wanted to do when I was 12.”
White Sox fans were surprised when Kasper jumped ship to join the radio broadcast, but boy are we happy he did. Kasper and DJ consistently provide excellent calls and make the White Sox radio broadcast one of the best in baseball.
The White Sox community joins the Yankees and the rest of the baseball world in remembering John Sterling, a legend and a future Hall-of-Famer, who will always be remembered for his iconic call: “It is high. It is far. It is gone”.
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