Yankees Announcer John Sterling Rescued from Hurricane Ida Flooding by Rickie Ricardo

New York Yankees Spanish radio announcer Rickie Ricardo was called upon for the save Wednesday night. In this case, to help out legendary play-by-play announcer John Sterling. 

Ricardo appeared on WFAN's Moose and Maggie show Thursday and recounted (h/t Peter Botte of the New York Post) how he was called to pick up Sterling in Edgewater, New Jersey, after the 83-year-old's car flooded and left him stranded as he was attempting to go home from the Bronx amid Hurricane Ida after the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels.

The game was in Los Angeles, though Yankees broadcasters have been working from Yankee Stadium during road games throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Ricardo said Sterling's broadcast partner, Suzyn Waldman, called him to let him know Sterling was in trouble:

"Suzyn asked me, 'Where are you?' I said, 'I'm working my way across upper Manhattan to get to the [George Washington] Bridge to get to New Jersey.' She says, 'John is stuck on River Road in Edgewater.' Now, I know for years, I've seen how bad it gets flooded on River Road in Edgewater, and with the kind of rain we had, I can only imagine. So I said, 'Suzyn, I'm on my way. I more or less know where he lives. I'll figure out where he's at and see what I can do.'"

Ricardo managed to get ahold of Sterling on his cell phone and locate him, despite a power outage in the area that caused the lights to go out. He said he saw about 25 other vehicles stranded near Sterling's car.

"I pull up and John says, 'Is that you?' I said, 'Yeah it's me. I'm flashing my lights, I'm now behind you, I'm as close as I could get,'" Ricardo said. "Because his car, his wheels, now are completely covered by water. [There's] water in the cabin. I get as close as I can and said, 'Let me help you out.'"

Ricardo helped Sterling out of his car and into his SUV. He said it took about an hour to get Sterling back to his residence, which was about half a mile from where his car was abandoned, and another hour for Ricardo to go the one mile between his home and Sterling's, with a number of roads shut down because of the flooding. 

Per Reuters, at least 12 New York City residents were killed in the flash flooding that hit the metropolis, leaving streets and the subway system overflowing with water.