The decision to step away from the microphone seemed to be a long time coming for John Sterling.
The Yankees made the news official Monday afternoon after it surfaced that Sterling would be retiring after serving as the voice of the franchise since 1989.
In a conversation on WFAN’s “Evan and Tiki,” Sterling revealed the idea had been on his mind for some time.
Sterling said that the decision “wasn’t hard at all” and that it was “something that I’ve wanted for a long time.”
“I guess if I was smarter I would have done this March 1 or March 31,” Sterling told hosts Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber.
The legendary broadcaster, whose career started in Baltimore as the radio voice of the then-Baltimore Bullets for the 1970-71 NBA season, said that it really hit him what he wanted to do during the offseason after the Yankees missed the playoffs and Sterling had plenty of free time on his hands.
“I lived my life as happy as I lived it,” Sterling said of his newfound extra free time he had last offseason. “I should have stopped then. I just don’t want to do any more work. I’ve worked for 64 years and in July I’ll be 86, so let’s face it, my time has come.”
Sterling acknowledged that he could have continued to work just home Yankee broadcasts on WFAN if he had wanted to, but admitted that he didn’t “want to get up in the afternoon and have to go somewhere.”
The daunting Major League Baseball schedule has been something that has caught up with Sterling over the past few seasons and had traveled less frequently with the team.
On Monday, he told Roberts and Barber that he was tired of letting the baseball season dictate his life.
“I know the life I want to lead. I just lived it from October till the end of March,” Sterling said. “It was not a hard decision and I cannot wait for it to finally happen as I told my family – I’ve got four kids who are grown – and my friends. I’ve said ‘Well now we can have dinner any time.’ That’s how I feel.”
He added: “I will be very happy in my retirement.”
Prior to his time as voice of the Yankees, he also spent years doing Nets, Islanders, Braves and Hawks games.
Sterling will be honored during a ceremony at Yankee Stadium on Saturday and he will visit the WFAN booth during the broadcast.
“Yankees radio will never quite sound the same without the signature voice, wit and humor of John Sterling,” the radio station said in a statement.
