Yankees broadcaster John Sterling healthy, receives signed ball from Justin Turner after hit in head by foul ball

Ryan Young

New York Yankees play-by-play announcer John Sterling is fine.

The longtime radio voice of the Yankees insisted that he was OK on Sunday after a foul ball traveled into the booth at Yankee Stadium and hit him in the head the night before.

As promised, he was back in the broadcast booth for the third and final game of the Yanks' series against the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

“To all the Yankee fans, I am fine,” Sterling said while wearing a bandage above his eye. “It hit me in the head, a muscle up there, so I was OK. I thank you for all the warm, wonderful, loving thoughts. Anyway, I’m fine.”

John Sterling
John Sterling, seen here in 2009, yelled out in pain after a foul ball traveled into the broadcast booth and hit him in the head Saturday. (AP/Bill Kostroun, file) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

On Saturday at Yankee Stadium, Red Sox star Justin Turner hit a foul ball in the ninth inning that went all the way up and hit Sterling in the forehead in the booth. Fans heard Sterling react in real time on the broadcast, though he remained in the booth for the rest of the game.

“It really hit me. I didn’t know it was coming back that far,” he said on the broadcast after yelling out in pain.

On Sunday, the Yankees shared video of the ball actually getting Sterling in the face.

Turner reached out to Sterling afterward and signed the ball that hit him.

A post shared by Suzyn Waldman (@suzynwaldman)

Thankfully, Sterling was fine after the incident, which could have been much worse.

Sterling has called Yankees games since 1989. At one point, he had called an impressive 5,060 consecutive games, a streak that ended in 2019.

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