Report: Yankees Closing in on John Sterling Replacement

The New York Yankees are reportedly looking at the AL West to find their next radio voice to replace the legendary John Sterling.

Yankees' legendary broadcaster John Sterling Syndication Northjersey | Bob Karp/Staff Photographer / USA TODAY NETWORK / Bob Karp/Staff Photographer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The New York Yankees are reportedly close to finding their voice.

Per Ryan Glasspiegel of The New York Post, Dave Sims is nearing a deal that would make him John Sterling's successor as the radio narrator of the Yankees on WFAN. If the two sides agree to terms, Glasspiegel says that the Yankees are expected to approve the deal.

Sims, 71, has been with the Seattle Mariners since 2007, calling games on television for Root Sports Northwest. Born in Philadelphia, Sims has extensive experience in the New York area: he previously served as a sportswriter for the New York Daily News, as a studio host for New York Knicks radio broadcasts, and as a sports anchor for WCBS-AM.

Of note, Sims became the first baseball broadcaster to call two perfect games in the same season in 2012: he was on the national call for Fox when Philip Humber blanked the Mariners as a member of the Chicago White Sox in April before he narrated Felix Hernandez's milestone nearly four months later, the first in Seattle franchise history.

More recently, Sims went viral for his euphoric call of Cal Raleigh's walk-off solo home run in September 2022 against the Oakland Athletics, one that clinched the Mariners first playoff berth in two decades. Sims has also popularized the catchphrases "Giddy up!" and "Boomstick, baby!", which he often breaks out after Mariner home runs.

Sims' expansive résumé makes him an ideal candidate to replace Sterling on the Yankee radio waves. Sterling stepped down from his long-standing role as the radio voice of the Yankees early in the 2024 season but returned to call select late-season games as well as the team's run to the World Series.

WFAN used an ensemble cast to step in for Sterling, with Emmanuel Berbari and Justin Shackil being the voices most often heard next to that of Suzyn Waldman's.