R.I.P. Bob Sheppard
R.I.P.
The longtime New York Yankees longtime public address announcer Bob Sheppard has died at the age of 99. Sheppard, nicknamed “The Voice of God” worked at Yankee Stadium from 1951 to 2007, announced more than 4,500 baseball games, and saw the Yankees win 13 World Series died at his Long Island home today.
I was only fortunate to take in one Yankees game in the old Yankee Stadium before it was torn down but my fondest and most memorable moment of that day was hearing his mesmerizing voice read off the lineup card for that days game.
Back on that day I remember I was so eager just to get to the stadium early enough to take a stroll through Monument Park however it wasn’t long after being there that Sheppard’s voice stole the show. There was nothing fancy about how he said Derek Jeters name, it was all about how correctly it was delivered and how smooth it just echoed throughout the ballpark. I did end up taking that walk through Monument Park but left with a longer lasting memory of my Yankee Stadium experience because of Sheppard and forever after sitting at home watching a Yankee game on television tried to listen over whatever broadcaster was calling the game trying to listen to him in the background. Never will I forget…..
“The shortstop … No. 2 … Derek Jeter … No. 2.”
