Longtime Yanks announcer Sheppard dies

[iandhr]

Source: Yankees

The gentle, refined and pious man whose voice afforded the Yankees' former home a dignified distinction for nearly five decades has passed away. Bob Sheppard, who introduced Joe DiMaggio, George W. Bush, Mickey Mantle, Elmer Fudd, and Derek Jee-tah and narrated the touchstone NFL playoff, died on Sunday at age 99, nearly three years after his final call in the Bronx.

A rich, mellow voice and precise elocution made Sheppard a primary component of the Yankee Stadium experience. For generations, his "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen..." was the greeting that mattered most. Scooter, Yogi, Mickey, Whitey, Thurman, Reggie, Goose, Donnie, Bernie and Jee-tah were occupied, preparing for the day's event. They didn't nod or wave. It was left to Sheppard to greet the masses. "...and welcome to Yankee Stadium."

His words, deliberately delivered and echoing, served as a baseball "On your mark." Once Sheppard had spoken, the game could begin. He did for elocution what Loretta Young did for elegance, Benny Goodman did for swing, what Rogers and Astaire did for dance and what Mantle did for switch-hitting. Sheppard was from then, and he extended "then" so that it could be appreciated into the 21st century.

Read more: http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100711&content_id=12178760&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

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Sad. May the voice of god be remembered

[Elwood P Dowd]

1. The greatest PA announcer in the history of baseball,

plus he also did the Football Giants for many years. What a voice.

[tilsammans]

2. R.I.P., Bob Sheppard

I remember his voice announcing many a Giants game. What a wonderful human being.

[NewJeffCT]

3. May he rest in peace

There is no other PA announcer in sports that can compare. Amazing how long he lasted in this day & age - 1951 to 2008 - in his job. My dad was going on 9 years old when he started at Yankee Stadium and I never knew anybody else my entire life until recently.

[Lugnut]

4. RIP Mr Sheppard.

Rest in peace, sir. :(

[msanthrope]

5. Tears. Rest well, gentle and kind man. You were a pleasure to listen to.

"His favorite names to announce, in order, have been Mantle, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Salome Barojas, Jose Valdivielso and Alvaro Espinoza. He preferred the names of Latin players.

“Anglo-Saxon names are not very euphonious,” he said. “What can I do with Steve Sax? What can I do with Mickey Klutts?”

But it wasn’t the players who made Sheppard’s work special.

“Mr. Sheppard could read Eminem lyrics and make them sound like the Magna Carta,” Clybe Haberman wrote in The New York Times five years ago."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-obit-sheppard


A great snippet from Tony Gywnn--one of my favorite KO stories.

For Gwynn, getting introduced by Sheppard was "a big thrill," particularly since Gwynn had been talking about Sheppard in the dugout with broadcasters Keith Olberman and Fran Healy before Game 1 of the 1998 Series.

"I'm right in the middle of saying, 'Man, I wish I had a recording of Bob Sheppard saying my name when
he announces me for the starting lineup.' And boom, there's Bob Sheppard. I hear, 'No. 19. Tony Gwynn.
No. 19.' I turned around and said, 'Mr. Sheppard, nice to meet you.' After the Series, Olberman sent me one of those little things where you push a button, and here's Bob Sheppard saying my name. It was
awesome. So for me, the experience of going to Yankee Stadium and playing for the first time was a big, big deal."

http://www.ballparktour.com/Powerhouse_Ruth.html

One the best things about Derek Jeter????

When he is introduced at Yankee Stadium, he is announced by an MP3 of Bob Sheppard. He refused to have anyone else do it.

Audio clip of the final regular season game line up call at the Old Stadium...September, 2008

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7141187

[tilsammans]

6. Now I'm really tearing up

:cry: Thank you for your post. And thank you, Mr. Sheppard, for the memories.

[soleft]

7. Every old timers game I was overrun with goose bumps

[nyy1998]

8. RIP Bob Sheppard

Your voice has been and will be missed.