It took two unofficial years, but Bob Sheppard is finally calling it a career as the Voice of the Yankees.
And what a career it was.
Sheppard's first game was on April 17th, 1951 and he announced this lineup (courtesy of LoHud)
Jackie Jensen LF
Phil Rizzuto SS
Mickey Mantle RF
Joe DiMaggio CF
Yogi Berra C
Johnny Mize 1B
Billy Johnson 3B
Jerry Coleman 2B
Vic Raschi P
....Not a bad way to start your career with four Hall of Famers playing.
Sheppard is perhaps the most underrated hero of the Yankees' franchise and is without reservation one of the classiest members of any sports' franchise. He was a professor and the Giants AND the Yankees' PA guy. Maybe most impressive wasn't that he officially called his last game at the age of 96, maybe not that he lived to 96 and now 99 (and is still going), but that he didn't miss a game for over half a century. It's difficult for someone not to take vacation time for a job, even if it's only six months out of the year, but add in the fact he didn't miss one with the Giants (now you're talking year-round) and it is a profession focused on the voice, and it's one of the most impressive sporting feats ever.
Even the Fenway Monster men missed a day for one of their children's weddings and I hold their 20-something year streak as one of the most impressive acts of professionalism. Sheppard kept his voice in tact for over 50 years and never missed a day of work whether due to sickness, family events or vacation. His linguistic skills and sound are one-of-a-kind and something Derek Jeter still forces to represent his approach to every home game at-bat to this day (he has a recording).
If there is a Mount Rushmore of the Yankees' franchise, the guarantee is Babe Ruth. Somewhere George Steinbrenner, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Derek Jeter, Thurman Munson, Lou Gehrig and Joe Dimaggio would get a look or two.
My dark horse is Bob Sheppard, who was a Yankee throughout almost all of those player's tenure and he did his job the best out of any other competition out there.
It is one of my deepest regrets as a Yankees' fan that I never heard him do a game in the last year of his own stadium or the first year of the new one. Now we may never get to hear his natural voice again. It is every Yankees' fan's wish to hear Mr. Sheppard perform one more time, but I wouldn't count on it at the age of 99. The man seems like someone who won't work unless he's at his best.
Regardless, with Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror I can add one more thing to be thankful for:
I didn't get to meet him like others I know, nor did I get to write any stories about how classy and how much of a professional he was, but I can be thankful for the mere opportunity I had to hear the same voice announce my team that my Dad had, and his Dad had before him.
Mr. Sheppard is transcendent across multiple Yankees' generations and is a part of every Yankees' fans happy memories.
Here's wishing him well in retirement.
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