Yankees announcer John Sterling to call Kitten Bowl

Longtime Yankees announcer John Sterling will be the play-by-play caller for the first annual Kitten Bowl, the Hallmark Channel’s answer to Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl, both of which will air against the Super Bowl on Feb. 2.

Joining Sterling will be Beth Stern, wife of Howard Stern, for the three-hour event. Sterling has called every Yankees game on the radio for the past 25 years.

The event is part of the Hallmark Channel’s “Pet Project” initiative, which is “devoted to celebrating pets and the incredible joy and enrichments they bring to our lives,” and will be conducted with North Shore Animal League America.

Hallmark described the Kitten Bowl as the “greatest feline showdown in cable television history,” and said that no matter what, “The kit-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-ens win!”