Yankees News: John Sterling to Miss 1st Game Since 1989 on July 4

John Sterling's incredible streak of broadcasting New York Yankees games on the radio will soon end.

According to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, Sterling will miss his first game since 1989, taking off the team's July 4 contest against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Fourth of July is also his birthday, though Sterling said it's a health-related absence.

"For the moment, I'm a little under the weather," he said. "I've put in the time. I want to feel better, and they think this is the time for me to do it—and I agree."

Ryan Ruocco of YES and ESPN will replace Sterling, joining Suzyn Waldman. Sterling will be off for the entirety of the four-game series against the Rays, with the All-Star Break following that series and extending his hiatus.

It's a well-deserved sabbatical for a man who has called all nine innings for the Yankees during the past three decades.

"I thought it was very nice I was able to do it," Sterling said of his streak.

Not that he's too bothered about its end.

"As far as the streak going, a streak is a streak," he said, per WFAN.com. "It's just numbers."

"By the way, almost every announcer for every team in every sport takes some days off during the season, you know," he added, per Jim Baumbach of Newsday.

Few announcers are as iconic as Sterling, the voice of one of the most important franchises in American sports. But even icons need a few days off.