Bob Sheppard

Robert Leo Sheppard (October 20, 1910 – July 11, 2010) was the long-time

Sheppard's smooth, distinctive baritone and precise, consistent elocution became iconic aural symbols of both the old Yankee Stadium and Giants Stadium. Reggie Jackson famously nicknamed him "The Voice of God",^[2] and Carl Yastrzemski once said, "You're not in the big leagues until Bob Sheppard announces your name."^[3]

Sheppard was secretive about his age throughout his life, but according to New York voter records he was born October 20, 1910,^[4] in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York City. He graduated from St. John's Preparatory School in 1928 (at that time in Brooklyn, NY, currently in Astoria, Queens) and attended St. John's University on an athletic scholarship, where he earned seven varsity letters from 1928 to 1932; three in baseball as the starting first baseman, and four in football as the left-handed starting quarterback. He was also elected president of his senior class.^[5]

Sheppard began his career playing semiprofessional football on Long Island with the Valley Stream Red Riders and the Hempstead Monitors, earning $25 a game,

After World War II, Sheppard was hired as the public address announcer for St. John's football and basketball games, a job he kept well into the 1990s. In the late 1940s, he became the announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the All-America Football Conference at Ebbets Field. He came to the attention of the Yankees when a front-office official heard him deliver a tribute to Babe Ruth at a Dodgers football game in 1948. He was offered the Yankees announcing job, but did not accept it until three years later when the Yankees agreed to hire an understudy, so that his duties with the team would not interfere with his teaching responsibilities.^[10]

Sheppard's first year as the Yankees' announcer was the only one in which

Sheppard's distinctive announcing style became an integral component of the Yankee Stadium experience. For more than half a century each game began with his trademark cadence – "Good afternoon (evening)...ladies and gentlemen...and welcome...to Yankee Stadium" – his words reverberating around the massive structure. Each in-game announcement began: "Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen." He introduced every player, Yankee or visitor (as described on his

Sheppard made another rare professional error in October 1976 at the Giants' first home game in New Jersey at Giants Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys, which he commenced with the startling announcement, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yankee Stadium."^[15] His other famous faux pas occurred in 1982 at Yankee Stadium, when he inadvertently left his microphone on as Shane Rawley gave up a double on his first pitch in relief, instantly turning a 3–2 lead into a 4–3 deficit. Over the stadium speakers came Sheppard's familiar voice: "Boy, what relief pitching!" Sheppard, ever the gentleman, went to the locker room after the game and apologized to Rawley.^[14]

Throughout his career, Sheppard famously refused to reveal his age, once abruptly ending an interview when Jim Bouton asked the question a second time.^[17] He readily disclosed his birth month and day, October 20 (possibly because he shared it with Mickey Mantle^[18]), but never publicly acknowledged the year. For years, there was conjecture that his compulsive secretiveness stemmed from a fear that Yankees owner George Steinbrenner would think him too old and replace him, but Sheppard denied it. "[Steinbrenner] never questioned how old I was", he said. "He knew I was there every day for 57 years or so."^[19] In fact, it has been said that Sheppard may have been the only Yankees employee never criticized by Steinbrenner, who called him "the gold standard."^[20]

Over the years, Sheppard also served as announcer for multiple other teams and venues, among them

At age 95, health issues began to take their toll: In 2006, Sheppard missed his first Yankees home opener since 1951 after injuring his hip. He was back in time for the next homestand, but it marked the beginning of a slow but inexorable deterioration of his health over the next two seasons. He called what turned out to be his final game, a 10–2 win over Seattle, on September 5, 2007. The last player he introduced was the Mariners' Ben Broussard, who made the final out of the game.^[24] The following week, he was hospitalized with a bronchial infection, forcing him to miss the final homestand and the AL Division Series against Cleveland, thus ending his streak of 121 consecutive postseason games at Yankee Stadium.^[25] Although he signed a new two-year contract with the Yankees in March 2008,^[15] and he particularly looked forward to announcing the 2008 All-Star Game, which was played at Yankee Stadium, he missed the entire 2008 season.^[26][27] He also reluctantly admitted that he lacked sufficient strength to call the final game at the original ballpark on September 21, 2008. "I don't have my best stuff", he said. Sheppard's recorded voice did announce the starting lineups for that final game, a 7–3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.^[28][29] Jim Hall replaced him for the 2008 season, and Paul Olden took over when the Yankees moved to the new ballpark in 2009.^[20]

Two weeks after his 99th birthday in 2009, the day after the Yankees defeated Philadelphia to win their 27th World Series,^[30] Sheppard officially announced his retirement as the Yankees' public address announcer. "I have no plans of coming back", he told MLB.com. "Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don't think, at my age, I'm going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well."^[31]

Sheppard died at his home in

In 2000, during his 50th year with the Yankees, Sheppard donated the microphone he used for a half-century of Yankee Stadium announcements to the

The Yankees' first home game after Sheppard's death, a 5–4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on July 16, 2010, was played with an empty public address booth and no announcements.^[33] The Yankees wore a Bob Sheppard commemorative patch on the left sleeve of their home and road jerseys for the remainder of the 2010 season.^[34]

The United States House of Representatives passed a resolution "commending Bob Sheppard for his long and respected career" by voice vote on November 16, 2010. It was introduced by Carolyn McCarthy from New York's 4th congressional district, where Sheppard lived for 70 years.^[35][36]

In 2008, Derek Jeter asked Sheppard to record his at-bat introductions.^[37] The recordings were used to introduce Jeter's home at-bats from the beginning of the 2008 season until his final game at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2014.^[38] Sheppard was flattered: "It has been one of the greatest compliments I have received in my career of announcing. The fact that he wanted my voice every time he came to bat is a credit to his good judgment and my humility."^[19] Sheppard's recorded voice also introduced Jeter at the 2010 All-Star Game in Anaheim two days after Sheppard's death.^[39][40] Sheppard voices the introduction to The Baseball Experience at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.^[17]

On September 26, 2013, a recording of Sheppard's introduction, followed by Metallica's Enter Sandman, were played as Mariano Rivera stepped to the mound at Yankee Stadium for the final time.^[41]

Sheppard was elected to the St. John's University Sports Hall of Fame, the Long Island Sports Hall of Fame, and the New York Sports Hall of Fame. He was awarded honorary doctorates from St. John's University (Pedagogy) and Fordham University (Rhetoric), and in 2007, received St. John's' Medal of Honor, the highest award that the university can confer on a graduate.^[6]

St. John's University annually awards the Sheppard Trophy, one of its highest awards, to the most outstanding student-athlete.^[9] The National Association of Sports Public Address Announcers presents the Bob Sheppard P.A. Announcer of the Year Award annually.^[42]

In 1998, Sheppard was presented with the prestigious William J. Slocum "Long and Meritorious Service" Award by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, and the "Pride of the Yankees" award by the Yankees organization.^[6]

In 2010, Sheppard was one of only two people ever awarded both a World Series ring and a Super Bowl ring. The other was Bill King, the long-time radio play-by-play voice of the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Athletics, and another man famously secretive about his age.^[8]

Sheppard was married twice. He had two sons, Paul and Chris; and two daughters, Barbara and Mary; four grandchildren; and (as of 2008) nine great-grandchildren. His first wife, Margaret, the mother of all four of his children, died in 1959. He and his second wife, Mary, were married from 1961 until his death.^[15][43]

Sheppard was deeply religious, "...as strong in his Roman Catholic faith as anybody I knew", wrote his longtime friend, George Vecsey. "[In old age] he hated to admit he could no longer serve as a lector. His faith never wavered in the trying days. His daughter [Mary] is a nun. He referred to [his wife] Mary as 'my archangel,' meaning she saved his life, day by day."^[18]