John Sterling, the long-time New York Yankees play-by-play broadcaster, celebrated his 85th birthday on Tuesday and the New York Giants were among those to honor him.
As Sterling arrived at Yankee Stadium ahead of a series with the Baltimore Orioles, he was treated to a gift from John Mara: A brand new Giants helmet.
Even a 🐐 gets to celebrate a birthday. A very happy birthday to the legend, our very own John Sterling.
The @Giants sent along a helmet to protect him from further foul balls.
The @Yankees and Lonn Trost brought him the awesome cake. pic.twitter.com/ZcBEjfv0pQ
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) July 4, 2023
Back on June 10, during a game between the Yankees and Boston Red Sox, Sterling took a foul ball right to the face. Mara and the Giants want to ensure that never happens again.
The video everyone has been asking for.
No, a foul ball cannot stop John Sterling from calling a Yankees win 💪 #SterlingCam pic.twitter.com/avHu9w6XfY
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) June 11, 2023
“Swung on, a popped foul, back here,” Sterling said on the broadcast. “Ow! Ow! Ow! It really hit me. I didn’t know it was coming back that far.”
In addition to the helmet from Mara and the Giants, Sterling also received a humorous t-shirt from pitcher Nestor Cortez showing an image of the broadcaster covered in Band-Aids with the caption reading, “Team Player.”