For a time Wednesday, longtime Yankees radio play-by-play voice John Sterling was one of many tri-state area residents who became trapped or displaced by the excess rain and flooding caused by Hurricane Ida.
Sterling was stuck on River Road in Edgewater, N.J., following the completion of the Yankees' game against the Angels in Anaheim on Wednesday night.
It wasn't until Ricky Ricardo, the Yankees' Spanish-language play-by-play announcer, answered his phone that Sterling was rescued and guided to safety.
Our own @RR_RicardoFAN is a hero? Indeed, he told @MandMWFAN on today's #OutToLunch how he rescued a stranded John Sterling after last night's Yankees game. pic.twitter.com/KRkCKWUa3N
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) September 2, 2021
As Ricardo detailed, he left the stadium after Sterling to finish up his postgame duties, only to make it to Broadway in his Jeep before Yankees color commentator Suzyn Waldman called Ricardo to let him know of Sterling's predicament and where Sterling, 83, was trapped.
"Suzyn asks, 'Where are you?' I say, 'Well, I'm working my way across upper Manhattan to get over to the [George Washington] Bridge, to get to Jersey,'" Ricardo said. "I say, 'OK, Suzyn, I’m on my way, I know where [Sterling] lives, I'll figure out where he's at and see what I can do.'"
Ricardo eventually made it to Sterling through the darkness and deep waters. After navigating several closed or flooded roads, he helped guide Sterling to safety with the help of several North Jersey police departments in what Ricardo described as "a jigsaw puzzle."
He also said Sterling was "understandably shell-shocked" by the incident but was ultimately all right.
The Yankees were off Thursday. They open a series with the Orioles at home on Friday.