A few days after news broke that longtime radio voice of the New York Yankees John Sterling would be calling significantly fewer games during the second half of the season, WFAN has decided on who will fill his shoes.
Justin Shackil and Rickie Ricardo will handle fill-in duties for Sterling starting on June 17 during the Yankees series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Shackil will occupy the spot next to analyst Suzyn Waldman, while Ricardo will handle the duty during New York’s series against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 20.
Both had been mentioned originally when the news first broke earlier in the week. The announcement was made during the Boomer and Gio in the Morning show on Thursday.
Congrats to @RR_RicardoFAN! As just announced on @WFANmornings, he will fill in for John Sterling on our @Yankees broadcasts June 20-22 against the Rays in Tampa! ⚾️🎙️@7BOOMERESIASON @GioWFAN pic.twitter.com/2s4tvilE2f
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) June 9, 2022
“Obviously it’s a great honor to fill in for a legend like John Sterling,” Ricardo said during an appearance on WFAN’s morning show. “It’s time for John maybe to step back a little bit and you’ve heard him say himself that he made the decision to ease up a little bit on his road schedule. We all know guys that don’t even work Monday night football games anymore, so he’s not the first guy to step back from a heavy schedule.
“I am absolutely thrilled to be able to do it.”
Both names should be very familiar to Yankee fans that tune into the team’s broadcast. Ricardo has been the Spanish-language radio voice since 2014 on WADO and he made headlines last year for rescuing Sterling after his car got stranded during flooding following a remote broadcast at Yankee Stadium.
BREAKING!@7BOOMERESIASON & @GioWFAN speak with @JustinShackil about filling in for John Sterling June 17-19th against the Blue Jays in Toronto ⚾️🎙️@WFANmornings pic.twitter.com/LTswq00X0T
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) June 9, 2022
Shackil has been a digital reporter for the Yankees and hosts David Cohn’s podcast on Jomboy Media. The 35-year-old also has play-by-play experience in minor league baseball and worked on international NBA broadcasts as well.
Sterling will continue to call Yankee home games for WFAN, the team’s flagship radio home, and select road games that are close in proximity to the Bronx. He is also expected to call al playoff games for the Bombers.
