John Sterling preferred going out without a true broadcasting farewell.
The radio voice of the Yankees for 36 years said his goodbyes in The Bronx on Saturday during a retirement ceremony before the Yankees’ matinee against the Rays.
Sterling had the chance to have a final goodbye over the air — whether making a call or even giving a little sentimental monologue — as YES Network play-by-play voice Michael Kay said on Saturday’s broadcast that he offered Sterling to do the play-by-play for the game, and he got a similar offer for radio.
But Sterling declined both offers.
“My tank is empty,” Sterling said during his appearance on YES when asked by Kay if he expects times when he wishes he was in the booth to make a certain call.
When announcing his retirement earlier this week, Sterling cited health reasons for the big decision.
He explained he liked calling the games but said the traveling has caught up to him after 64 total years on the air.
“Well going there, I’m gonna think, ‘Boy, I hope I don’t screw up on the field.’ And going home, there’ll be a tremendous feeling of … ahhh, I’ve done it,” Sterling told The Post’s Steve Serby about his feelings prior to Saturday. “And starting on Sunday, I won’t have to go anywhere anytime that I don’t want to. I don’t want to tell you what I’m gonna say because I ad-lib it. But basically, what I’m saying is something that you probably would say. Here I was, this little boy, this little street urchin Yankee fan rooting for the Yankees and taking the IRT up to the Stadium, and then, slightly more than mid-career, having the Yankee job fall in my lap! And then look how it turned out. Oh my God, can you be luckier than I am? I have to throw all my emotions away and handle my little speech and go from there.”
Sterling told Serby he didn’t have any interest in returning to call another Yankees game.
No, after the ceremonies on Saturday, I am gonna go upstairs, I’ll go on with Suzyn in effect to say goodbye to the audience,” Sterling said. “I don’t want to keep coming back and doing this game or that game. … It’s over. Let’s pack it up, and send it away.”
Kay, who broadcast Yankees games on the radio with Sterling from 1992-2001, agreed with Sterling’s assessment of his career on Saturday when asked by analyst Jeff Nelson.
“You had to be on your toes. He could say anything,” Kay said. “With John, the conversation could go anywhere, and that’s what made him great.”