Yankees radio will have a new lead voice in 2025, as longtime Seattle Mariners play-by-play announcer Dave Sims will take over for the retired legend John Sterling.
Sims is said to be finalizing a deal with WFAN, the flagship station for Yankees baseball and host of its radio network. He’ll succeed Sterling, who had been calling Yankees games since 1989 before retiring early in the 2024 season (he did call some of the Yankees postseason games).
Born in Philadelphia and raised in the New York area, the 71-year-old Sims is no stranger to New York sports, as he began his career as a writer for the New York Daily News. In the 1980s, Sims served as the lead anchor for SportsNite, a show that originally aired on WFAN. In New York, Sims hosted a show with Ed Coleman, and served as the radio host for the New York Knicks.
After departing New York, Sims began doing play-by-play for the Temple Owls, and also called college basketball and football for ESPN. Sims also provided play-by-play for Westwood One, the radio home of the NFL.
During his ESPN run, Sims began doing play-by-play for Major League Ball broadcasts. After nearly 20 years in the broadcasting business, he landed a job as the Seattle Mariners’ main broadcaster for regional sports network Root Sports in 2007.
Since then, Sims rose up the ranks as one of the best play-by-play broadcasters in MLB. His high energy and well known catch phrases have become fan favorites not just in Seattle, but across the baseball world.
In 2012, Sims became the first broadcaster to ever call two perfect games in the same season, providing the calls for both Felix Hernandez’s and Philip Humber’s perfect games.
Sims joins the pantheon of great Yankees radio callers through the ages, from Mel Allen and Red Barber to John Sterling, who served as the voice of Yankees baseball for the last 35 years. Sterling’s run included 5,060 consecutive games called and announcing “Thhhhhhhhhe Yankees win!” for eight American League pennants and five World Series championships.
Sims will have big shoes to fill, but his plethora of experience should lend him well to one of the most coveted jobs in sports broadcasting.
