Veteran Yankees broadcaster John Sterling’s passion took a misstep during Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night as he prematurely celebrated what he thought was a big moment for Aaron Judge.
With the Yankees trailing 3-0 to the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium, Sterling leaped at a chance to inject some life into the game, calling what he thought was a potential home run for Judge in the fourth inning—only to realize it was a routine fly ball that barely reached Los Angeles left fielder Teoscar Hernández, who made an easy catch just 317 feet from home plate.
What happened
“There it goes!” Sterling called, his voice rising in excitement. “Deep left-center field … and Teoscar is there to make the catch,” he said, caught off guard as Judge’s fly ball fell short of the fence. Sterling quickly added, “Oh, did I get fooled on that. What, with that swing—and the ball majestically going to left field, Suzyn, I actually thought it was going to be out, and it wasn’t close.”
His longtime broadcast partner, Suzyn Waldman, attempted to cover the mix-up. “He really did get some good wood under it,” she remarked, though added, “It looked obviously that it was off the end of the bat.”
Aaron Judge, who has struggled this postseason, connected with a 75-mph curveball from Dodgers starter Walker Buehler, but Statcast projected an expected batting average of .020 on the flyout—a statistical reminder that the swing had little chance of reaching the stands in any MLB ballpark. Aaron Judge went 0-for-3 in Monday’s game, striking out once, and has now hit just 6-for-40 in October with seven walks and 19 strikeouts.
Fans, familiar with Sterling’s trademark enthusiasm and memorable calls, are hopeful the 86-year-old broadcaster will have a genuine home run to celebrate soon. But with the Yankees trailing 2-0 in the series and now down 4-0 in the sixth inning of Game 3, Sterling may not get many more chances. For Yankees fans, and Sterling himself, a game-altering moment would be welcomed—before the season slips away.
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