Legendary Yankees Announcer John Sterling Was Married for 12 Years
"As a little boy growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, I was able to broadcast the Yankees for 36 years," said John in his retirement.
Published April 17 2024, 9:34 a.m. ET
A longtime New York Yankees radio announcer has stepped away from his dream job. After calling 5,420 regular-season games and 211 playoff games, John Sterling is no longer the play-by-play radio guy for the most popular team in baseball.
He played a large role in some baseball fans' lives. When you hear the same guy talking for two to four hours 162 times a year, you feel like you might know them. Which has us wondering, who is John Sterling’s ex-wife?
John Sterling and his ex-wife Jennifer were married for 12 years.
Although John has spent hundreds of hours a year on live radio, he doesn’t speak much about his ex-wife. John and Jennifer were married for the duration of the best year of John’s time calling the Yankees. The two divorced in 2008 after 12 years of marriage.
John is a proud parent of four, including triplets.
All of John and Jennifer’s children are now adults. Their eldest, a girl, is now 27. Triplets, two boys and a girl, are now 23. The triplets have quite an interesting birth story. On Oct. 12, 2000, the New York Post ran the story “A ‘Triplet’ Header For Play-By-Play Dad Sterling,” detailing a delivery plan quite likely no other family has ever had.
Due to John’s job as a broadcaster and the 2000 Yankees being good enough for the post-season, the family planned a Caesarean-section delivery around a potential Yankees home playoff game. John said, “We had set up a date. She had gone as far as she could go — 36 weeks — and the doctor said we had to do it this week. We set it for a Yankee home date.”
The Yankees won that game 7 to 1 over the Seattle Mariners. They won that series and eventually the 2000 World Series.
Write whatever you want about John because he probably isn't going to see it.
Some people loved John's calling style and a lot more did not. It's part of the job and John understood this. A September 2015 profile in Sports Illustrated pointed out something rather unusual for a person who works in media in the country’s biggest media market. John doesn't own a computer. He has never seen online criticism about his calls. “The Internet has given rise to people who can say anything they want, anonymous. So if it’s anonymous, I’d never even mildly listen to it.”
John's retirement surprised many, but even dream jobs eventually end.
Seemingly out of nowhere, John announced his immediate retirement on Apr. 15, 2024. His statement reads, "I am a very blessed human being. I have been able to do what I wanted, broadcasting for 64 years. As a little boy growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, I was able to broadcast the Yankees for 36 years. It’s all to my benefit, and I leave very, very happy. I look forward to seeing everyone again on Saturday.”
On April 20, he will be recognized in a pregame ceremony at Yankee Stadium.