WATCH: Empire State Building lights up in Yankees pinstripes as a tribute to John Sterling's retirement
The former radio voice for the New York Yankees, John Sterling, announced his retirement from the booth last week.
Following his retirement ceremony at the Yankee Stadium on Saturday, the Empire State Building celebrated the legacy of Sterling as it lit up in blue and white once the sun set down at the Big Apple.
Earlier in the day, before the Yankee's afternoon home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the club organized a retirement ceremony in which he was honored with a No. 5,631 Yankees jersey. The number represents the number of games Sterling worked on in the Yankees booth.
John Sterling addresses Yankees fans to say goodbye one last time
After serving 36 seasons as the radio voice for the New York Yankees, John Sterling, who will turn 86 on July 4, decided to drop the mic and watch games from the comfort of his home. Deservedly, when he was fronted towards the sell-out ballpark, he received a warm reception for his service in the Bronx.
He started his address by thanking all the fans, clubs, and colleagues who had worked with him and enjoyed him over the years. He was also happy knowing that he made money doing something he loved.
“What I really want to do is to thank you and I’ll tell you why,” Sterling said in his address. “Person after person, group after group, have come to me with kindness, respect and love, and how lucky can you be for people to celebrate what you do for a living? You know, I had to bring these people up and I had make money to do it. So you, the fans have been phenomenal to me over the past 36 years.”
John Sterling also provided the reason for his untimely retirement and said he should have done it earlier.
“I did it all wrong,” Sterling said. “I should have quit on March 1st or March 15th, but I decided I’d do one exhibition game, which is useless, and you well know, and when we went on that long trip, we went to Houston and Arizona, and, boy, I knew that was it.
"I didn’t want to work every day — and I told you how long I’ve been working. If you work 64 years and on your next birthday you’re going to be 86. I think it’s time.”
John Sterling served as radio voice in 5,420 regular season games and 211 postseason games, during which he witnessed the Yankees claim five World Series wins. He last worked in the booth on April 7 in a Yankees game against the Toronto Blue Jays.