Giancarlo Stanton had a MONSTER Yankees debut -- SMASHING 2 home runs -- and TMZ Sports talked to NYY's legendary radio announcer, John Sterling ... about his polarizing Stanton HR call.
Sterling -- who's announced every Yankees game since 1989 (almost 5,000 in a row) -- is known for his over the top home run calls. One's like ...
"An A-Bomb! From A-Rod!" (Alex Rodriguez)
"He's Judge and jury, and this is judgment day!" (Aaron Judge)
So, when the ball left Stanton's bat ... and John belted out "Giancarlo, non si può stoparlo! It is a Stantonian home run" ... there was mixed reaction.
Why Italian? What's it even mean?
We called Sterling and got answers.