John Sterling retires from Yankees broadcast booth at age 85

Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling announced his immediate retirement Monday at age 85, a few weeks into his 34th season in New York's broadcast booth.

Sterling had cut back his schedule in recent years and was not with the team for its trip to Houston and Toronto.

He called 5,420 regular-season games, the last against the Blue Jays on April 7, plus 211 postseason games. Sterling broadcast 5,060 consecutive games from September 1989 through July 2019 after starting with the Yankees as a pregame host.

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Sterling will be honored in a pregame ceremony before Saturday's game against Tampa Bay.

"I have been able to do what I wanted, broadcasting for 64 years," Sterling said in a statement. "As a little boy growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, I was able to broadcast the Yankees for 36 years. It's all to my benefit, and I leave very, very happy. I look forward to seeing everyone again on Saturday."

Reporting by The Associated Press.