Tag Archives: Bob Sheppard
Over 500 Fill Small Church on Long Island To Say Goodbye
Legendary Yankees and Giants public address announcer Bob Sheppard was laid to rest yesterday on Long Island. Sheppard passed away earlier this week at the age of 99.
Among the admirers at the service – and providing eulogies – were Giants’ CEO John Mara, Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman and former St. John’s basketball icon Lou Carnesecca.
From FOX 5 in New York……
From FOX Senior Baseball Writer Ken Rosenthal….
Tagged Bob Sheppard, New York Giants News |
Taylor In Court Today; Not Guilty Plea Expected
Former Giant LB Lawrence Taylor will be in front of a Rockland County judge today to enter his plea on the criminal charges levied against him stemming from a May 6th incident involving a minor.
Taylor is accused of third-degree rape, criminal sexual act, sexual abuse, endangering the welfare of a child, and patronizing a prostitute.
He is expected to plead not guilty to all charges.
“I am saying that he did not have sexual intercourse, as it’s defined in the penal law, with this person,” Taylor’s attorney Arthur Aidala told ESPN.
Much of the case against Taylor is circumstantial. Since his arrest and arraignment, the prosecution has suffered some setbacks such as lack of physical evidence and inconsistent corroboration from the alleged victim.
Top Selections in Draft Remain Unsigned
With training camp just 18 days away, the Giants have yet to get signatures on contracts from their top two picks in April’s NFL Draft: DE Jason Pierre-Paul and DT Linval Joseph. Neither will be able to report to camp on August 1st unless they are under contract.
The process is moving a bit slowly this season. None of the players drafted around them have signed yet, either. This is assumed to be what the Giants and the player’s agents are waiting for.
More on Bob Sheppard
Jackie Robinson once said “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” This is being proven true in the case of Bob Sheppard, the legendary Giants and Yankees PA announcer who passed away Sunday at the age of 99.
Many stories are surfacing from all ends of the spectrum. Here’s a piece about Herb Steier, Sheppard’s 83-year-old friend and driver.
Greg Prince, of Faith and Fear in Flushing offers an embarrassing moment involving Sheppard…
And finally from Don Amore of the Hartford Courant…..
As promised, here is some more Bob Sheppard. Some of my favorite Sheppard moments. Now, you have to close your eyes and imagine his voice, typical pauses, etc. …
1. “We direct your attention to the area behind home plate … wheah Ah-C-A recawding ah-tist …. MEATLOAF … will sing…. our national anthem.”
2. “Will the ownah of a blue chevrolet, license No. (such and such) …. please report to yaw cah …. it-tis on FIRAH.”
3. (To fans throwing snowballs at Giants Stadium in 1995) “This must CEASE.”
4. (Introducing Clarence Clemons at halftime of a Giants game): “Your attention please, Ladies and Gentlemen. … First, there was the KING. … Then, there was THE BOSS … and now we have THE BIG MAN.”
5. (In tribute to Pee Wee Reese in 1999:)
“When Jackie Robinson was being cruelly heckled by opposing players,” Sheppard said, ``it was Reese who walked over and put his arm around Robinson’s shoulder. And the insults stopped. I like to think, this morning in heaven, Jackie Robinson walked over and put his arm around Pee Wee Reese’s shoulder.”
Tagged Bob Sheppard, Lawrence Taylor, New York Giants, New York Giants News |
From the 1986 NFC Championship Game vs Washington
CBS coverage of player introductions at the start of the 1986 NFC Championship Game vs the Redskins. PA announcer Bob Sheppard introduces the Giants’ offense to a raucous crowd before the most important game in the history of Giants Stadium.
Tagged 1986 New York Giants, Bob Sheppard, Giants Stadium, New York Giants |
The Most Familiar Voice in Sports, Bob Sheppard, Passes Away at 99
Public Address announcer Bob Sheppard had a career that spanned over half a century, lending his ominous voice and strategic cadence to New York sports venues such as Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium and St. John’s Alumni Hall. 
It was said by many visiting baseball players that having Sheppard announce one’s name before an at bat was validation that you had made it to the big leagues. Fans also felt that Sheppard’s presence and austerity at a game or event seemed to raise it’s importance. He never wavered in his style.
Sheppard began working for the Yankees in 1951 and the Giants in 1956, For the next 50 years until his retirement in 2006, It is said Sheppard never had a contract with the Giants, just a handshake agreement with another class act – Giants owner Wellington Mara.
Since Sheppard’s retirement, the PA duties at Giants games have been assumed by another St. John’s professor, Jim Hall.
Giants games were something special with Sheppard calling the action. He wasn’t the “Voice of God” as Reggie Jackson once called him (that moniker was hung on NFL Films’ John Facenda), but he was as close as New Yorkers could possibly get.
Sheppard, who would have turned 100 in October, was born in Richmond Hill in Queens and attended St. John’s University, where he would later go on to teach Speech. He earned a Master’s Degree at Columbia in 1933 and during WWII, was a Naval Officer stationed in the Pacific theater.
At St. John’s University basketball games he would announce everything from baskets and fouls to local business ads during games. Sheppard prided himself as true professional but was not above delivering announcements such as ” the owner of a green Dodge…your lights are on and your car is running….”…to the the delight of the audience.
Over the course of time, Sheppard has become the Gold Standard to which all PA announcers will be measured against. His quality of work and the dignified manner in which he carried himself will be remembered always by New Yorkers and sports fans alike.
According to sources…
St. John’s University annually awards the Sheppard Trophy to the most outstanding student-athlete as one of its highest awards.
Sheppard has been awarded both World Series Championship rings, and NFL Super Bowl Championship ring honors in his role with the Yankees and the football Giants. The only other known person to share this honor is the late Bill King, the long-time radio play-by-play voice of the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Athletics.
Sheppard has been honored by having his microphone encased in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On May 7, 2000, in celebration of his 50th season as the Yankees’ PA announcer, the team dedicated a plaque in his honor, to be placed in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The plaque calls him “The Voice of Yankee Stadium.” Former CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite served as the public-address announcer during the ceremony.
Tagged Bob Sheppard, Giants Stadium, New York Giants, New York Giants Blogs, New York Giants News, Yankee Stadium |
