Obituary: Bob Sheppard / Yankee Stadium PA announcer
Oct. 20, 1910 - July 11, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Bob Sheppard, the Yankee Stadium public-address announcer known for his resonant introductions of baseball players from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter that echoed within the Bronx ballpark and carried well beyond to the elevated subway platforms, has died. He was 99.
Mr. Sheppard died Sunday at his home in Baldwin, N.Y., on Long Island, the New York Yankees said in an e-mailed statement.
Mr. Sheppard's perfect diction and unhurried intonations made their debut at the Yankees' baseball season opener of April 17, 1951 -- and were heard at every opening-day game until April 11, 2006, when he dislocated his artificial hip.
A bronchial infection led to a lengthy hospital stay at the end of the 2007 regular season, and the Yankees said he never returned to announce another game. By then, Mr. Sheppard's voice had reverberated in New York City's most-famous stadium for more than half a century and in more than 4,400 games.
"Your attention, please, ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Sheppard would demand, whether asking fans to rise for the national anthem or to note: "Now batting for the Yankees, the shortstop, No. 2, Derek Jeter, No. 2."
A recording of Mr. Sheppard's introduction of Mr. Jeter now plays at the player's request and has since Mr. Sheppard's lengthy absence in 2007, the Yankees said.
Fans and players alike paid heed to Mr. Sheppard's deep voice. "When you think of Yankee Stadium, he's the first thing that comes to mind," Mr. Jeter, the Yankee captain and shortstop, said in April 2006. "It's not right playing here unless he's the one that's announcing."
The team enshrined him with a plaque in Monument Park on May 7, 2000.
Mr. Sheppard was "a fine man whose voice set the gold standard for America's sports announcers," said George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the Yankees, in a statement. "His death leaves a lasting silence."
Mr. Sheppard was a New York City high school speech teacher when he was hired as a public-address announcer for pro football games at Yankee Stadium in the late 1940s. He shifted to Yankee baseball after being assured it wouldn't interfere with his teaching career.
Robert Leo Sheppard, who grew up in the New York City borough of Queens, consistently refused to disclose his age; New York voter records listed his date of birth as Oct. 20, 1910.
In addition to the Yankees, Mr. Sheppard was the public-address announcer for the New York Giants football team at Yankee Stadium from 1956 until 1976, when the team moved to Giants Stadium across the Hudson River in New Jersey's Meadowlands, and continued to announce at Giants games until he retired from that job after the 2005 season.
He played varsity football and baseball for St. John's University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in speech in 1932. He also received a master's degree in speech from Columbia University.
Mr. Sheppard was the chairman of the speech department of John Adams High School in Queens before becoming a professor of speech at St John's.
He took equal pride in his longevity as an announcer and in adhering to a "clear, concise, correct" style behind the microphone.
"You name it, I did it, and without emotion," he said, "which is amazing when you think about the public-address announcers in the world today. They are screamers."
Mr. Sheppard arrived early at games to check how ballplayers he didn't know pronounced their names, a professional courtesy that he had also extended to students in his high school classes.
Aside from DiMaggio, whose name Mr. Sheppard said he enjoyed pronouncing, his first opening-day lineup at Yankee Stadium included Mickey Mantle, another player with a name the announcer said rolled enjoyably off his tongue because of its rhythm and alliteration.
As for other players, Mr. Sheppard said he found pleasure in introducing multisyllabic names like Alfonso Soriano rather than names like, for instance, Steve Sax.
One of Mr. Sheppard's most-exciting moments as a broadcaster occurred on Oct. 8, 1956. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Yankees' Don Larsen was on the verge of pitching the first perfect game in World Series history.
And then, Mr. Sheppard recalled, "I had to introduce a pinch hitter, Dale Mitchell, for the Brooklyn Dodgers."
There ensued a few more tense minutes and then Mitchell was called out on strikes. As pandemonium broke out in the stadium, Mr. Sheppard said he exhaled, quietly, at last.
Mr. Sheppard died Sunday at his home in Baldwin, N.Y., on Long Island, the New York Yankees said in an e-mailed statement.
Mr. Sheppard's perfect diction and unhurried intonations made their debut at the Yankees' baseball season opener of April 17, 1951 -- and were heard at every opening-day game until April 11, 2006, when he dislocated his artificial hip.
A bronchial infection led to a lengthy hospital stay at the end of the 2007 regular season, and the Yankees said he never returned to announce another game. By then, Mr. Sheppard's voice had reverberated in New York City's most-famous stadium for more than half a century and in more than 4,400 games.
"Your attention, please, ladies and gentlemen," Mr. Sheppard would demand, whether asking fans to rise for the national anthem or to note: "Now batting for the Yankees, the shortstop, No. 2, Derek Jeter, No. 2."
A recording of Mr. Sheppard's introduction of Mr. Jeter now plays at the player's request and has since Mr. Sheppard's lengthy absence in 2007, the Yankees said.
Fans and players alike paid heed to Mr. Sheppard's deep voice. "When you think of Yankee Stadium, he's the first thing that comes to mind," Mr. Jeter, the Yankee captain and shortstop, said in April 2006. "It's not right playing here unless he's the one that's announcing."
The team enshrined him with a plaque in Monument Park on May 7, 2000.
Mr. Sheppard was "a fine man whose voice set the gold standard for America's sports announcers," said George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the Yankees, in a statement. "His death leaves a lasting silence."
Mr. Sheppard was a New York City high school speech teacher when he was hired as a public-address announcer for pro football games at Yankee Stadium in the late 1940s. He shifted to Yankee baseball after being assured it wouldn't interfere with his teaching career.
Robert Leo Sheppard, who grew up in the New York City borough of Queens, consistently refused to disclose his age; New York voter records listed his date of birth as Oct. 20, 1910.
In addition to the Yankees, Mr. Sheppard was the public-address announcer for the New York Giants football team at Yankee Stadium from 1956 until 1976, when the team moved to Giants Stadium across the Hudson River in New Jersey's Meadowlands, and continued to announce at Giants games until he retired from that job after the 2005 season.
He played varsity football and baseball for St. John's University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in speech in 1932. He also received a master's degree in speech from Columbia University.
Mr. Sheppard was the chairman of the speech department of John Adams High School in Queens before becoming a professor of speech at St John's.
He took equal pride in his longevity as an announcer and in adhering to a "clear, concise, correct" style behind the microphone.
"You name it, I did it, and without emotion," he said, "which is amazing when you think about the public-address announcers in the world today. They are screamers."
Mr. Sheppard arrived early at games to check how ballplayers he didn't know pronounced their names, a professional courtesy that he had also extended to students in his high school classes.
Aside from DiMaggio, whose name Mr. Sheppard said he enjoyed pronouncing, his first opening-day lineup at Yankee Stadium included Mickey Mantle, another player with a name the announcer said rolled enjoyably off his tongue because of its rhythm and alliteration.
As for other players, Mr. Sheppard said he found pleasure in introducing multisyllabic names like Alfonso Soriano rather than names like, for instance, Steve Sax.
One of Mr. Sheppard's most-exciting moments as a broadcaster occurred on Oct. 8, 1956. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Yankees' Don Larsen was on the verge of pitching the first perfect game in World Series history.
And then, Mr. Sheppard recalled, "I had to introduce a pinch hitter, Dale Mitchell, for the Brooklyn Dodgers."
There ensued a few more tense minutes and then Mitchell was called out on strikes. As pandemonium broke out in the stadium, Mr. Sheppard said he exhaled, quietly, at last.
Newsday of New York contributed.
Read more: http://post-gazette.com/pg/10193/1072177-122.stm#ixzz0tUeGDfeO
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