The New York Yankees have a new voice behind the mic at WFAN: longtime Seattle Mariners play-by-play man Dave Sims. He’s in the big chair alongside Suzyn Waldman after 35 years of John Sterling.
“It’s an opportunity to work with a franchise that everybody knows,” Sims told me in a recent conversation. “And I’m coming in after a legendary career of John Sterling, and I’m ready. I’m doing my thing and I’m enjoying it. I really am.”
Of course, Dave Sims is no stranger to New York. In fact, one can argue he’s long been a part of our great big city’s even greater and bigger family. This is actually his second stint at WFAN, where he hosted a mid-afternoon show for over four years.
“Eddie Coleman and I,” he recalls with a smile. “We talked to people and we like to hear their stories. When we were talking about interviewing players and coaches and we did an administrator, it was stories. Things have changed. You roll with it.”
And, of course, what better way to immediately endear yourself to the hometown fans than taking the subway to work? Dave Sims did exactly this on Opening Day and even chronicled the journey on his Instagram.
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“It’s great being on the subway and there’ve been ups and downs in everything in New York City,” Sims says with sincerity. “But it’s great to have the subway, trust me.”
Better yet, it seems the higher-ups at the MTA have worked their magic to make sure Dave Sims has, as we locals call it, great train karma. That’s when one arrives at any respective subway station on the way to work, either as the train arrives or otherwise will in a minute or less.
“I think the fastest time I’ve been there now is 23 minutes,” Sims recalls with a smile. “I got my first train, and then the second train was right there as I was coming down the steps. And, boom, I was at the ballpark in a heartbeat. It was great.”
But there’s more New Yorker to Dave Sims than his subway riding and being the new voice of Yankees radio. He grew up nearby in Philadelphia, and often visited family in New York with his “New York-o-phile” mother. On top of that, he enjoys taking long, long walks in the city.
“It’s funny,” he ponders early in our conversation. “The older I get, the more I walk. And, time permitting, I don’t have any problem walking five or six miles. Walking to the Village, walking uptown. But the subway is great.”
Maybe it’s baseball keeping him young at a spry 72. Perhaps it’s that deep connection to New York City that very few truly have. One way or the other, Dave Sims is happy to be back in the Big Apple.
“It’s the greatest city in the world,” he says. “Place I always wanted to be.”
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