At the age of 85, John Sterling is leaving the Yankees' bullpen.

Veteran Yankee radio broadcaster John Sterling has made the difficult decision to retire at age 85, in the midst of his 34th season in the New York booth. In recent years, Sterling has scaled back his workload and did not travel with the team on their recent trips to Houston and Toronto. He played 5,420 regular season games and 211 postseason games during his career, his last game coming against the Blue Jays on April 7th.

Sterling began his broadcasting career with the Yankees as the pregame host and went on to broadcast 5,060 consecutive games from September 1989 through July 2019. He will be honored in a special pregame ceremony prior to Saturday's game against Tampa Bay. In a statement, Sterling expressed his gratitude for being able to continue his passion for broadcasting for the past 64 years, including 36 years with the Yankees. He leaves the industry feeling happy and fulfilled, and looks forward to reuniting with everyone at the ceremony on Saturday.

This news was reported by the Associated Press agency. For more Major League Baseball updates and information, follow your favorite teams and players to stay informed about games, news and more.