(CNN) -- Bob Sheppard, the longtime public address announcer for the New York Yankees, died Sunday at his home in Baldwin, New York, a team spokesman said. He was 99.
Sheppard announced his first game at Yankee Stadium in 1951, and his last in 2007, according to a statement released by the Yankees. His career spanned 4,500 baseball games, including 121 playoff contests and 52 World Series games.
The native of the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood was known as "The Voice of Yankee Stadium."
Joe DiMaggio was in his last season and Mickey Mantle was on his first the year that Sheppard began his announcing duties, the Yankees said. He was there for Roger Maris' 61st home run in 1961 and Reggie Jackson's three-homer game at the World Series in 1977, the club said.
The Yankees discovered Sheppard at Yankee Stadium, where he was announcing for the then-Yankees football team. The football team hired him away from another football team who had found him when he was volunteering his services for a charity football game in Long Island, the Yankees said.
GO HERE to read more.
No comments:
Post a Comment