TAMPA, Fla. -- John Sterling has perfected his Spring Training routine over the decades, generally using those sun-splashed weeks to escape the northeast frost and prepare for a 162-game grind ahead. A typical day can be filled with morning laps in the pool, a swing by George M. Steinbrenner Field and a dinner reservation with friends, providing the longtime Yankees broadcaster with plenty to keep his dance card full.

The evening of March 12 followed that pattern, as Sterling had joined about 20 acquaintances at a Tampa restaurant. The coronavirus came up in conversation over cocktails, and before long, someone’s phone buzzed with news that the NBA had suspended its season. Two days later, Sterling and broadcast partner Suzyn Waldman were on a flight back to New York, recognizing that this season would be anything but normal.

“It is the strangest year of my life, and I'm up there in years,” said Sterling, 81. “You can’t call up friends and family and book them for dinner, and obviously there's no baseball. All sports live on ‘what if?’ And there were so many great questions about baseball this year. The Yankees were primed to make a real long run and the Mets have an awfully good team, so the summer baseball in New York would have been fabulous this year.”

With no live games, Sterling and Waldman have been teaming up from afar to relive classic Yankees moments, with the entire 2009 postseason having been recently aired on WFAN. With Waldman tapped into a Comrex hook-up and Sterling on his couch speaking into an old-school flip phone, the duo has hosted a bevy of call-in guests like A.J. Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, Johnny Damon, Joe Girardi, David Robertson, CC Sabathia, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira.

“A.J. Burnett was fabulous -- I hadn't talked to him in years. He was just funny,” Waldman said. “He called back and wanted to listen to Game 2 of the World Series. You remember how good things were. We'd always felt this about the '90s group. Someone had said, 'One of these days, you're going to look back on this and think it was the greatest time of your life in baseball.' And I remember saying, 'I don't have to look back. I know it is right now, and I'm living it.'”

Otherwise, Sterling and Waldman have mostly remained at their respective homes in the weeks that have passed since the Yankees were supposed to open the season on March 26 in Baltimore.

At her home in New York’s Westchester County, Waldman has occupied her time in part by rewatching the entire run of “The Sopranos”, now carrying new appreciation for the late James Gandolfini’s performance. Hoping to donate plasma, Waldman recently underwent an antibody test to see if she had been exposed to the coronavirus. The results came back within 24 hours: negative.

“That was quite an eye-opener,” Waldman said. “I got to see what is really going on with the healthcare workers and how stressed they are. It's very worrisome. They're trying their best, and I wished I could have done something. You can't go buy flowers for them; you can't bring them food. I think maybe if you're not in New York, you don't see it the way we do here.

“People have asked me, 'How much do you want baseball back?' Well, I want my life back. Baseball is a part of that. I'm missing not being afraid. I went and got flowers to plant, and you're afraid. You go to the store and you're afraid. I don't like that. I don't like to be afraid.”

Sterling lives in an apartment on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, where he proudly speaks of a two-TV setup that allows him to multitask while marveling at free-flowing rush-hour traffic on the West Side Highway.

One television will show a murder mystery or soap opera, while the other has been replaying classic ballgames; Sterling said he recently rewatched Game 4 of the 2001 World Series, the game when Derek Jeter became “Mr. November.” He jokes that if nothing else, at least the situation has proven that he could handle being under house arrest.

“We’re just waiting. This is a world war,” Sterling said. “Everyone in the world can get this virus, so we have more important things than baseball, basketball, football or hockey. We have to get a handle on this and then get back to normal living. They're talking now about being in the ballpark without any fans, and I must tell you, that really will be weird. But I do think it's important to get back if you can, so I'm really hoping that there will baseball this year.”