John Sterling Honored by Yankees After Retirement; Jeter, More Send Video Message

The New York Yankees took time to show appreciation for longtime radio announcer John Sterling on Saturday.

Sterling announced his retirement Monday after 36 years as the Yankees announcer. It ended a 64-year career as a broadcaster, with other stops including the Baltimore Bullets, New Jersey Nets and Atlanta Braves.

Sterling received a jersey that commemorated the 5,631 Yankee games that he called and former Yankees Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams sent him a congratulatory message that aired on YES Network.

He reflected on how honored he was to have the ceremony and to be celebrated for the work he did.

"How lucky can you be," Sterling told reporters. "For people to celebrate what you do for a living?"

Sterling began his tenure with the franchise in 1989 and saw it win five World Series titles. He originally intended to continue his career for the entire season but said that he made his decision to retire following the Yankees first road trip, noting that he should have retired prior to the season as opposed to starting it.

While he will no longer be calling the games live, Sterling said he is looking forward to watching on television and listening to games on the radio.

"I'm not going to miss coming to the ballpark," Sterling told reporters. "I don't think so. I'm going to love watching and listening, I really am. I really know what I'm going to do. And I'm going to enjoy it."

The radio play-by-play duties are currently being handled by the duo of Justin Shackil and Emmanuel Berbari while the franchise looks for the long-term replacement for Sterling.