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John Sterling shrugs off being drilled by foul ball during Yankees-Red Sox final out

Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Yanks Go Yard

New York Yankees v Toronto Blue Jays / Tom Szczerbowski/GettyImages

With a runner on first and a full count to Justin Turner standing between the Yankees and a rivalry win over the Red Sox, the team's radio booth went oddly silent, perhaps the least reassuring development possible for any stressed-out driver.

Turns out, the explanation for the momentary interruption was worse than the silence itself. Stalwart broadcaster John Sterling, freshly back from an extended break (suffering from a cold, spending time with family), was struck by a Turner foul ball.

Before the pause in the action, Sterling could be heard exclaiming, "Ow! Ow! Ow!" after a thump.

As the at-bat raged on, it seemed likelier and likelier that Turner would find a way on base, bringing Yankees enemy Rafael Devers to the plate as the lead run while Sterling was in a compromised position.

Luckily, Holmes came in just far enough with 97 MPH on Turner to retire him on a grounder to third, allowing the Yankees' beat writers to check in with Sterling and confirm that he was unharmed on the way down to the locker room.

Yankees broadcaster John Sterling fine after being hit by Red Sox foul ball

It is high. It is far. It is backwards. And it'll be just fine.

Sterling has lessened his workload in recent years, limiting road trips to allow himself to freshly call as many exciting home games in the Bronx as possible. The voice of the Yankees will turn 85 years old on July 4, a birthday he shares with the late George Steinbrenner.

Clearly, the Yankees are in his blood. Luckily, his blood isn't in the Yankees' broadcast booth. Hearing that Sterling checked out alright was certainly as big a win as anything that happened on the field Saturday evening.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.