Photo courtesy of the NJ.com
October 20, 1910 – July 11, 2010
Legendary Yankee announcer and ‘voice of God’ Bob Sheppard has passed away at the age of 99, just two and a half months shy of what would have been his 100th birthday.
He served as the public address announcer for three local teams in three different sports. Of course, the Yankees (1951-2007) as well as the NY Football Giants (1956-2006) as well as for St John’s Basketball and varsity Football teams until the early 1990’s. The first Yankee lineup Sheppard announced contained 8 future Hall of Famers, 5 on the New York squad alone: Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto. Their opponents, the Boston Red Sox, featured Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Lou Boudreau. The first player he introduced was Dominic DiMaggio of the Red Sox.
He was a star athlete in his own right, and is in the St. John’s University Sports Hall of Fame as an athlete. He earned seven varsity letters from 1928 to 1932, three in baseball as the starting first baseman, and four in football as the starting quarterback. He was also a Professor of Speech at St John’s University, and always considered that far more important than his work as an announcer.
What I’ll miss most was the care and respect he had for the English language. He treated every syllable with the assiduousness that a museum director would give a great painting. It’s a lost art, one which people don’t pay much attention to these days. One of the reasons he retired in 2007 was the preparation involved in announcing a game, meaning he would take the time to make sure he said each name perfectly. Not everyone who announces games does it that way, yet he obviously couldn’t imagine doing it any other way. He brought grace, class and dignity to the world of Baseball and he will be missed.
To hear his farewell and announcing the final lineup at the last game in the old Yankee Stadium, click here.
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10 Responses to The Voice of God ascends to heaven
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Bob has been missed and I have always hoped he would be back for a visit and maybe one last game.
Never has there been an announcer that was so integral to the enjoyment of the game. No bells or whistles, just straight out announcements. But Bob’s voice had such grace, formality and professionalism that he set the bar for all other announcers in both baseball and football. And while his personal life was never publicized to any extent all things that I have read have all given me the perception that he was a wonderful family man that anyone would be proud to have as a father or spouse.
Bob, we will all miss you.
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[...] The Voice of God acends to heavenThe Yankee U (blog)Legendary Yankee announcer and 'voice of God' Bob Sheppard has passed away at the age of 99, just two and a half months shy of what would have been his … [...]
[...] The Voice of God acends to heavenThe Yankee U (blog)Legendary Yankee announcer and 'voice of God' Bob Sheppard has passed away at the age of 99, just two and a half months shy of what would have been his … [...]
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