Robert Leo Sheppard (October 20, 1910 – July 11, 2010) was the long-time public address announcer for numerous New York area college and professional sports teams, in particular the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (1951–2007), and the New York Giants of the National Football League (1956–2006).

Sheppard announced more than 4,500 Yankees baseball games over a period of 56 years, including 22 pennant-winning seasons and 13 World Series championships; he called 121 consecutive postseason contests, 62 games in 22 World Series, and six no-hitters, including three perfect games. He was also the in-house voice for New York Giants football games for more than a half-century, encompassing nine conference championships, three NFL championships (1956, 1986, 1990), and the game often called "the greatest ever played", the classic 1958 championship loss to Baltimore.

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", and Carl Yastrzemski once said, "You're not in the big leagues until Bob Sheppard announces your name."

Early life

Sheppard was secretive about his age throughout his life, but according to New York voter records he was born October 20, 1910, 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.

Teacher

Sheppard began his career playing semiprofessional football on Long Island with the Valley Stream Red Riders and the Hempstead Monitors, earning $25 a game, His multiple teaching jobs overlapped more than 25 years into his announcing career, and he always maintained that his academic work was far more important than his accomplishments as an announcer. "My sports activity", he said,"...cut down on what I really contributed to society, and that's teaching...when I hear from former students and they say I helped them achieve their goals, I feel I have contributed to society more than all I have done in sports."

Announcer

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.

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 Monument Park plaque), "with equal divine reverence." He communicated the players' position, uniform number, name, and repeated the number, during his first at-bat ("Now batting for the Yankees, the first baseman, number 23, Don Mattingly, number 23"), while announcing the players' position and name during each succeeding at-bat ("The first baseman, Don Mattingly"). He eschewed flamboyant nicknames; Dennis Boyd was never introduced as "Oil Can", nor Jim Hunter as "Catfish." Sheppard, who had not yet met Posada, announced the substitution, Posada's major league debut, in extra innings of one of the greatest games in Division Series history, with an "o" at the end of his last name. Posada's friend Derek Jeter noticed immediately, with amusement, and has called him "Sado" ever since.

Throughout his career, Sheppard famously refused to reveal his age, once abruptly ending an interview when Jim Bouton asked the question a second time. He readily disclosed his birth month and day, October 20 (possibly because he shared it with Mickey Mantle 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."

Over the years, Sheppard also served as announcer for multiple other teams and venues, among them Adelphi College (predecessor of Adelphi University); the New York Titans of the American Football League, and the International Soccer League, both at the Polo Grounds; the WFL New York Stars at Downing Stadium on Randall's Island; the All-America Football Conference's New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium; the NASL New York Cosmos at Yankee Stadium, Downing Stadium, and Giants Stadium; Army Black Knights football games at Michie Stadium and Giants Stadium; and multiple Army-Navy games at the Polo Grounds, Giants Stadium, and Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. "You name it, I did it", he said.

Retirement

Sheppard retired from his position with the Giants, a 50-year handshake agreement with Giants owner Wellington Mara, at the end of the 2005 season, when the commute from his home on Long Island to East Rutherford, New Jersey became too strenuous. His final game was the Giants' playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers on January 8, 2006. He was succeeded by his long-time understudy, former debate student, and colleague in the Speech Department at St. John's University, Jim Hall. 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. Although he signed a new two-year contract with the Yankees in March 2008, 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. Jim Hall replaced him for the 2008 season, and Paul Olden took over when the Yankees moved to the new ballpark in 2009. 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."

Death

Sheppard died at his home in Baldwin, New York, on July 11, 2010, three months and nine days shy of his 100th birthday, and two days before the death of owner George Steinbrenner. In announcing his father's death, Sheppard's son Paul said, "I know St. Peter will now recruit him. If you're lucky enough to go to Heaven, you'll be greeted by a voice saying, 'Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Heaven!'"

Legacy

thumb|Sheppard's plaque at [[Monument Park (Yankee Stadium)|Monument Park]]

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 Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. May 7 of that 50th year was designated "Bob Sheppard Day", and a plaque honoring him was unveiled in Yankee Stadium's Monument Park. At the pre-game ceremony Walter Cronkite read the inscription, which states in part that his voice was "...as synonymous with Yankee Stadium as its copper facade and Monument Park." 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.

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 , where Sheppard lived for 70 years.

In 2008, Derek Jeter asked Sheppard to record his at-bat introductions. 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. 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." Sheppard voices the introduction to The Baseball Experience at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Awards

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.

St. John's University annually awards the Sheppard Trophy, one of its highest awards, to the most outstanding student-athlete.

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.

Personal life

Sheppard was married twice. He had two sons, Paul and Chris, and two daughters, Barbara and Mary, four grandchildren and () 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.

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."

References

  • The Baseball Experience, with introduction by Bob Sheppard
  • Bob Sheppard at SABR Bio Project