Suzyn Waldman called games for the New York Yankees from 2005-present. Part of the Judge Era (2017--Present) era.
Say the name Suzyn Waldman to a Yankees fan and you'll get one of two reactions: the crack in her voice describing a walk-off, or the memory of her crying on the air in October 2007 and getting mocked for it by guys who never had to fight for the job in the first place. Both reactions are the same story. Waldman has been the Yankees' color commentator on the radio since March 6, 2005, the first woman in baseball history to hold a full-time color commentary job for a Major League club, and she earned that seat by outworking three decades of people who assumed she didn't belong in it.
From Dulcinea to the Dial
Waldman wasn't supposed to end up in a broadcast booth at all. Born September 7, 1946, in Newton, Massachusetts, she went to Simmons College in Boston (an economics degree, for what it's worth, not journalism) and spent her twenties and thirties as a working actress and singer, not a reporter. She understudied in the 1971 Broadway revival of "Man of La Mancha," then landed the lead as Aldonza/Dulcinea opposite Richard Kiley in the show's return engagement from 1977 to 1979 -- two years she's called some of the proudest of her life (which tells you something about how she feels about the rest of the resume).
Then WFAN launched on July 1, 1987, and Waldman's voice was the first thing anyone heard on the country's first all-sports radio station -- a sports update, not a stage cue. She turned that into a job nobody had really invented yet: the Yankees and Knicks radio beat reporter, running from clubhouse to locker room on a schedule no actress ever kept. Fifteen years at WFAN as a beat reporter and update anchor, and by the mid-1990s she was doing Yankees TV play-by-play on WPIX, MSG, and WNYW, plus a stint on The Baseball Network's short-lived 1994-95 national package -- which made her the first woman to call play-by-play on a nationally televised MLB game. (Gayle Gardner beat her to televised play-by-play altogether, back in 1993, but that was a regional Rockies broadcast on a Denver station. Nobody had done it nationally before Waldman.)
In 1996, in the middle of all that, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She kept working.
| Yankees Radio Tenure | 2005-present (22 seasons) |
| Milestone | First woman to hold a full-time MLB color commentary job -- March 6, 2005 |
| Pennants / World Series Titles Called | 2 pennants, 1 title (2009) since 2005 |
| Radio Hall of Fame | Class of 2022, inducted November 1, 2022, in Chicago |
| NYS Broadcasters Hall of Fame | Inducted 2016, alongside John Sterling |
| Gracie Award | Lifetime Achievement, Alliance for Women in Media, June 2024 |
Twenty Years Next to Sterling
On March 6, 2005, Waldman moved into the Yankees radio booth full-time on WCBS-AM as color commentator -- first woman ever to hold that job for a Major League team, period. She spent the next two decades next to John Sterling, the two of them turning into the kind of broadcast pairing that fans either loved unconditionally or argued about at the bar, usually both in the same conversation. Sterling had the home run calls. Waldman had the analysis, the clubhouse sourcing from all those beat-reporter years, and a habit of gently correcting Sterling mid-broadcast when his play-by-play wandered from what actually happened on the field (which, generously, happened more than zero times).
That partnership survived Sterling's April 2024 retirement announcement just long enough for one more run: Sterling came back that September for a tune-up series, and the two of them called the Yankees' entire 2024 postseason together, an ALDS clinch, an ALCS pennant, and a five-game World Series loss to the Dodgers, before Sterling finally hung it up for good. Dave Sims took over as the Yankees' radio play-by-play voice starting in 2025, with Waldman staying right where she'd always been -- the color analyst, now breaking in a new partner instead of finishing out an old one.
A total original.
Not every moment in the booth was a highlight. In October 2007, after the Yankees blew Game 4 of the ALDS to Cleveland and Joe Torre's job looked finished, Waldman cried on the air during a WCBS postgame report describing the scene in Torre's coaching office. "The tears you hear in my voice are coming down the faces of the coaches in that coach's room," she explained afterward. It got clipped, mocked, and turned into a punchline by guys like Boomer Esiason who never once had to prove they belonged in a broadcast booth to begin with. Waldman kept the job anyway.
The Honors Caught Up Eventually
The industry took its time recognizing what Waldman had built, but it got there. In 2016, she was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame alongside Sterling -- a shared honor for a shared two decades. In 2022, she made the Radio Hall of Fame's Class of 2022, inducted that November in Chicago alongside names like Chris "Mad Dog" Russo and "Broadway" Bill Lee. In June 2024, the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation gave her its Lifetime Achievement Award at the Gracie Awards luncheon. And in January 2025, the New York chapter of the BBWAA handed her and Sterling the William J. Slocum/Jack Lang Award for Long & Meritorious Service at its 100th annual dinner -- a nice bookend, since Sterling would be gone sixteen months later.
None of it is a Cooperstown plaque, and Waldman has never pretended otherwise. But between the actress-turned-beat-reporter origin story and a résumé full of "first woman to" that she had to fight for one broadcast at a time, the honors read less like recognition of a career and more like a very late apology for how long it took to show up.
Key Moments
Born in Newton, Massachusetts
Grows up a baseball fan and eventually attends Simmons College in Boston, earning an economics degree.
Stars in Man of La Mancha
Plays Aldonza/Dulcinea opposite Richard Kiley in the Broadway return engagement, after understudying in the 1971 revival.
First Voice on WFAN
Delivers the first sports update ever heard on WFAN, the nation's first all-sports radio station, and becomes its original Yankees and Knicks beat reporter.
Baseball Network Play-by-Play
Calls games for The Baseball Network's national MLB broadcast package, becoming the first woman to do play-by-play on a nationally televised MLB game.
Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Diagnosed with breast cancer and continues working through treatment.
Full-Time Yankees Color Commentator
Joins the Yankees radio booth full-time on WCBS-AM alongside John Sterling, becoming the first woman to hold a full-time MLB color commentary job.
NYS Broadcasters Hall of Fame
Inducted alongside John Sterling.
Radio Hall of Fame Induction
Formally inducted in Chicago as part of the Radio Hall of Fame's Class of 2022.
New Radio Partner
Continues as Yankees radio color commentator as Dave Sims takes over play-by-play duties from the retired John Sterling.
John Sterling Dies
Pays public tribute to her longtime broadcast partner, calling him "a total original."
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Suzyn Waldman?
Suzyn Waldman (born September 7, 1946, in Newton, Massachusetts) has been the Yankees' radio color commentator since March 6, 2005, making her the first woman to hold a full-time color commentary job with a Major League club. Before that, she was a Broadway actress, WFAN's first-ever on-air voice in 1987, and the network's original Yankees/Knicks beat reporter.
Was Suzyn Waldman really an actress before she was a broadcaster?
Yes. She understudied in the 1971 Broadway revival of "Man of La Mancha" and later starred as Aldonza/Dulcinea opposite Richard Kiley in the show's 1977-79 return engagement, before moving into sports radio when WFAN launched in 1987.
Did Suzyn Waldman replace John Sterling as Yankees play-by-play announcer?
No. Waldman has remained the Yankees' color commentator throughout. When Sterling's play-by-play tenure ended after the 2024 postseason, Dave Sims was hired in 2025 as the new play-by-play voice, with Waldman continuing as his broadcast partner.
Is Suzyn Waldman in the Radio Hall of Fame?
Yes. She was named to the Radio Hall of Fame's Class of 2022 and formally inducted on November 1, 2022, in Chicago. She was also inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2016, alongside John Sterling.
Twenty years next to Sterling, and the booth has a different voice in it now. But Waldman's still there, same seat, still color commentary, still the answer to a question the sport took way too long to ask: what happens when you finally let a woman keep the job.