The great baseball announcer Bob Sheppard, who was given the nickname “The Voice of God,” for the way he welcomed generations of fans with his greeting, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yankee Stadium` and for the way that he introduced stars from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter to the Yankee Stadium. Whilst he never personally gave his age, in 2006 it was confirmed by a Yankees official that he was born on Oct. 20, 1910, which means that he was 99 years old.
He passed away at his home in Long Island with his wife at his side, a spokesman for the Yankees said.
Sheppard got a job with the Yankees way back in 1951, and his last game was towards the end of the 2007 season, when he caught a bronchial infection.
The team moved into the new Yankee Stadium a year ago, and in his honour the media dining room was named after him.
For Sheppard’s first game on April 17 1951 the line up included players such as Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and the great DiMaggi. He quickly became a fixture in the Yankees stadium which was as familiar as the white stadium façade, and he never looked back until his retirement three years ago.
On one of the greatest days of his career – May the 7th, 2000, the Yankees honoured him for over 50 years of service and put a plaque in his name in Monument Park, which read “The voice of Yankee Stadium”.
Shepperd was the announcer at 62 World Series games and two All-Star games, and in addition to this he introduced over 70 Hall of Famers over his long and illustrious career. One of these Hall of famers, Jackson, gave Sheppard the name “The Voice of God.”
The way that Sheppard introduced players was kept consistent throughout his entire career, and he was known for conducted his announcements with a dignified delivery. He considered his real job to be teaching speech at St. John’s (where he worked for 25 years before becoming an announcer), and from this he employed faultless diction.
Larsen’s infamous perfect game in the 1956 World Series goes down as Sheppard’s favourite moment at the Yankee Stadium. He also plied his trade in the NFL, and was the announcer for what is considered by many fans as the “greatest football game that has been ever played” back in 1958, in which the Baltimore Colts beat the Giants with the football scoreboards showing 23-17 after a sudden-death victory.
His career meant that he was able to witness some of the greatest moments in sport over the years. He was present when Jackson scored 3 home runs in one World Series game, when Roger Maris hit home run number 61, and when the Giants got to the NFL Super Bowl for the first time ever.
To read more about Bob Shepperd, go to: sportingnews.com