Of all professional sports, baseball has had some of the best radio announcers ever. Men like Red Barber, Ernie Harwell, and Vin Scully have became just as integral to the game as are the players on the field. For generations of fans, these men painted the picture of their favorite stars, with double plays and home run calls surging through the airwaves to reach us in our cars, on our porches, or in our beds.

But for as many good broadcasters as we’ve had, there have been plenty of terrible one. Guys like Chip Caray, Joe Morgan, and Chris Berman have served as more of an audio assault than anything else. There his honestly nothing more torturous in the world of sports than hearing “Back, back, back, back….” every four seconds during the home run derby.

But I digress. The purpose of this article isn’t to critique any of the above broadcasters. Rather, it is to investigate one man in particular: John Sterling. He’s been the radio play by play man for the Yankees for more than two decades, and has drawn both rave reviews and boos from baseball fans. Here we’ve assembled a list of just a few of his favorite home run calls. Is he a genius or a joke? You be the judge…

For Mark Teixeira: “Mark just sent a Tex message”
Alright, this isn’t terrible.

For Alex Rodriguez: “Alexander the Great conquers again”
No. This sucks.

For Alex Rodriguez: “It’s an A-bomb, from A-rod”
That’s better.

For Melky Cabrera: “The Melkman delivers again”
Pretty good.

For Robin Ventura: “Robin becomes Batman”
Terrible.

For Curtis Granderson: “The Grandyman can, the Grandyman can”
Make me want to pull out a tooth.

For Hideki Matsui: “It’s a thrilla – By Godzilla”
Now that’s more like it.

For Brett Gardner: “Gardy goes yardy”
Oh, please.

For Brett Gardner: “Gardner plants one”
Nice.

For Johnny Damon: “Positively Damonic”
Not bad.

Alright, so he’s a hit and miss sort of fellow. But one thing that cannot be disputed is the terrible “Yankees win, Yankees win, theeeeeeee Yankees win” chant. Ditch that one, John, and you may be able to take your announcing out of the realm of cheese and into the land of icons.

- Taylor Maxwell

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tags | Baseball, Chip Caray, Chris Berman, Ernie Harwell, Joe Morgan, John Sterling, MLB, radio announcers, Red Barber, Vin Scully