Pinch hitting: Zell’s Pinstripe Blog
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- February
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The pinch hitter series comes to an end today with one one final post. It’s from Kevin of Zell’s Pinstripe Blog.
Kevin has been blogging since March of 2008. He grew up a die-hard Yankees fan on Long Island and is 17. He said he believes Phil Hughes is the real deal.
Here is his post:
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“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Yankee Stadium.” The man who speaks those words has been given the name, “The Voice of Yankee Stadium” or the “Voice of God,” but most fans know him as Bob Sheppard. He has been the New York Yankees public address announcer since 1951. He was also the PA announcer for the NY Giants of the NFL from 1956-2006. Sheppard has called over 4,500 Yankees games, and has watched them win 22 AL pennants and 13 World Series championships. The first lineup he ever announced contained five future HOFers: Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto.
Sheppard is known for his longevity and his very unique announcing style. When a player steps up to the plate, he says: Now batting for the Yankees, the players number, his name, and his number again. Now batting for the Yankees … Number 2 … Derek Jeter … Shortstop … Number 2.
Sheppard was originally a speech teacher in John Adams High School and at St. John’s University. He considered teaching his main job. He claims that public address announcing is his part-time job. That same part-time job has lasted 56 years for the Yankees. He believes that the most important thing any public speaker has to have is audibility.
His booming voice throughout the stadium will never be forgotten, and will always be part of Yankee Stadium lore. Young players and fans only dream of stepping up to the plate at Yankee Stadium and hearing that voice announce their name. Sheppard missed the entire final season at Yankee Stadium. Jim Hall subbed in for him throughout the season. Derek Jeter didn’t feel comfortable of someone else announcing his name, so he had the organization record Mr. Sheppard’s voice. He is the only Yankee with that privilege. It just shows how much the players respect him and how much it means to them. Sheppard is so beloved, that they might even consider using his voice forever.
St. John’s created an award in honor of Sheppard. It’s called the Sheppard Trophy, and it’s given to the most outstanding student-athlete. His microphone has been encased in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and to honor Sheppard’s 50th season as the Yankees’ PA announcer, the team created a plaque in his honor in Monument Park.
He has also been given World Series championship rings and an NFL Super Bowl Championship ring honoring his role with the Yanks’ and the Giants.
Bob has also appeared in a few movies, including Anger Management, 61*, The Scout and The Bronx Is Burning. His voice can also be heard on three episodes of Seinfeld.
Sheppard has never really mentioned how old he really is. Some sites list his birthday as October 12, 1910, which would make him 98. That’s amazing. Mr. Sheppard has stated that he is under contract to announce the first game in the new Yankee Stadium this upcoming season. I think I can speak for all Yankee fans in saying that we hope Mr. Sheppard will get better and return to the new Yankee Stadium. It just wouldn’t be the same without him.
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Thanks, Kevin and thanks to all 35 of the pinch hitters who posted on the blog since the start of the year. I thought we had some great posts (and, um, some not so great ones) and they generated thousands of comments. We’ll do this again sometime.
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on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 12:10 am by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Kevin, thanks for the background on Sheppard. I wasn’t sure of his age, but I knew that he was in his nineties. When you think of that, it is amazing that he continued to be a mainstay of the Yankees so long. I hope and pray that he makes it back to the Stadium. I have always thought that Sheppard is as much a part of the Yankees as are the players. I really cannot imagine the game without him.
Thank you Kevin for your touching tribute to a true Yankee legend. A nice post to end the series.
Jim Hall does a decent job doing his best impersonation of Sheppard. As a matter of fact I think many fans don’t realize it’s not actually Bob. A little creepy but still, it’s a tribute in its own way.
Voice of G*d. He will be missed.
Good job Kev. Bob Sheppard is the man and I hope he gets in that booth again soon.
Thanks for the nice post about someone who we often take for granted. He’s a true Yankee, that’s a long, long time.
I will say that Derek’s request was kinda creepy.
Since we’re talking about Yankee greats, here’s tomorrow’s homework (with an assist to a poster on the LA Time’s Lakers blog):
*What 4 players would be on the Yankee Mt. Rushmore?*
“What 4 players would be on the Yankee Mt. Rushmore?”
All time? Easy. Ruth,Gehrig,Mantle and DiMaggio.
If I had to pick one from the current era? I’ going with Mariano over Jeter although I admit many would go the other way and I’m not sure how to argue it one way or the other.
Who Jeter or Mo would replace is interesting though.
One thing I’m certain of is that I sure wouldn’t want to be the guy who makes the decision!
The Babe, Joe D, Lou Gherig, and the Mick.
“What 4 players would be on the Yankee Mt. Rushmore?”
Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio, Mantle.
“All time? Easy. Ruth,Gehrig,Mantle and DiMaggio.”
Now if we wanted Yankees of the past 30 years the answer would be: Munson, Jackson, Mattingly, Jeter
Okay, that was way too easy.
I guess we have to do a modern one, too. Post Mantle.
“Jim Hall does a decent job doing his best impersonation of Sheppard. As a matter of fact I think many fans don’t realize it’s not actually Bob. A little creepy but still, it’s a tribute in its own way.”
You know he does. And that’s really freaky when you think of it because Sheppard doesn’t really have a voice that is easy to imitate.
And I think 3 posters all agreeing in a row may be a LoHud record!
“And I think 3 posters all agreeing in a row may be a LoHud record!”
Yes it takes a Sheppard to keep us sheep in line.
I bid goodnight to the west coast and any east coast night owls!
Last 30 years? That’s deserves a whole separate blog of its own although I’m already on record pledging my allegiance to Mariano.
If pressed though… I’m goin with Ed Whitson, Kevin Brown, Hideki Irabu and……… I’m torn between Wilson Betimit and Steve Balboni.
Come on. Tell me you’re not going to drive 500 miles to see Hideki Irabu’s face carved into a mountain.
Hmmmm…..
I’ll go with Oscar Azocar, Juan Bonilla, Marty Bystrom & Vic Mata.
Great post, great name, what else can I say great job
or…..
Shane Rawley, Henry Cotto, Juan Espino & Bob Brower.
Brian Cashman is in non-roster invitee mode. Now let’s go crazy on who should Cashman sign.
I enjoy hearing Bob Shepard as much as anybody, but, the title of “The Voice Of God” belongs to John Facenda, who did the voiceovers for NFL Films for years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....re=related
“Brian Cashman is in non-roster invitee mode. Now let’s go crazy on who should Cashman sign.
”
Juan Cruz FTW!
Betsy,
Thanks for the link to Kepner in the last thread.
Kepner says Torre “is not being forthright” about the AFraud issue. If it was Girardi, he’d say he was lying.
Kepner is generally a Torre apologist and an ARod basher – so it’s interesting that even he sees Torre’s lies. However, he fails to follow through.
He says Torre is lying (or, sorry, not being forthright) now to soften the impact of the AFraud mess. If so, why? Torre and Verducci wrote it, he’s not apologizing for it, so why lie about it? Maybe because it was a violation of the “sanctity of the clubhouse”, which he keeps denying? Maybe because it was a particularly cowardly way to take a cheap shot – by quoting others, including potentially current teammates – instead of saying it himself? Maybe because it was a betrayal not just of ARod (which would be nothing new for Torre), but also of those unnamed players, who, presumably, did not say it to ARod’s face, and have no desire to have it made public?
Al,
I would take Tyler Johnson as well. missed all of 08 because of TJS, but in 2007 he held lefties .224
Just to get away from “The Book” controversy, I have to assume that everybody knows about the “Immaculate Reception” in football, but, hoe many have ever seen or heard about “The Holy Roller” play?
Correction: ***how*** many have
“Al,
I would take Tyler Johnson as well. missed all of 08 because of TJS, but in 2007 he held lefties .224″
Ed- A lot of decent players still out there.
oh definitely there is. too bad the economy sucks this year.
Great job, Kevin. How great it is to see a young person with real respect for an older person! Refreshing and very well done!
sam i am sucks
Al from BK writes:
“Betsy- I sort of lost faith in Phil as a front-end guy but I still think he can be a solid 3. His lack of velocity and lack of a 3rd pitch have me up in the air about Phil.”
Al!!
Come on man. Phil is still only 22 years old. And i am going to say what I know all of us have thought at one point or another sometime within the last year – The yanks F’ed up with phil. They really did. The organization coddled phil and they babied him – they put innings limits on him and pitch counts and treated him like he was the best thing to happen to the yanks since babe ruth.
And then … we dont trade him for johan santana and all of a sudden, the FO decides to throw him directly into the fire. He is relied upon to be our fourth starter as a 21 year old and then, pavano pitches opening day and phil is basically expected to perform miracles. And what happened? He collapsed and went down with an injury. Its not really phils fault that he took two steps back in 2008 – it is the yanks organization who went from treating him like a precious commodity to becoming some sort of key piece in the yankee hybrid rebuilding year experiment fiasco.
But frankly, there is a reason phil was ranked the second best pitching prospect in baseball and has been considered the pride and joy of the yankee organization since he was drafted. There is a reason his scouting report profile is control – 85, k rating – 95, efficiency – 100 and has better numbers than joba did. And there is a reason his career minor league whip is 0.92, his k/9 is over 10 and he is 28-8 with a 2.35 era and 207 hits in 310 innings. Its because he is a great pitcher, with excellent poise and at times, jaw dropping pin-point command. He is a 22 year old with the maturity level of a 32 year old and the arm of an ace.
He may never live up to the awesome and divine potential the yankee organization has built his image up to be but he is much too young to give up on him already. We have to remember that it was not phil but the yankee organization that really dropped the ball last year using phil as some sort of stop gap rather then letting him continue in his development at triple A and no one has suffered more because of it than phil.
After that travesty, phil really needs another few months to develop his change-up in triple A before he will finally be ready to take his rightful place somewhere among CC, Joba, Wang and AJ giving us five potential aces for years to come. Phil showed us a glimpse of his real talents when he pitched that game against texas and we will see that same tremendous ability again I promise you.
4 worst recent yankee acquisitions on mount rushmore?
Pavano/Igawa/Wright/Farnsworthless
riverave had a good idea on who else to look into for backup infielder – Mark Grudz. Sounds pretty good to me but i dont think he will take a bench role unless he was desperate.
Mark Grudz isnt a bad option but the Yanks really need someone who can play D at SS (in addition to 2b). Grudz isn’t a good defensive replacement, though it’s still an interesting thought for a utility role if nobody else surfaces.
Nomar is another guy worth looking at. He may actually stay healthy in a utility role and would only cost 1-2M. He doesn’t play great D at SS but is at least as good as DJ.
Cody Ransom is probably the best bet right now but it might be fun if Nomahh can help bring the AL East back to NY.
Yea I was pretty fond of the idea. The thing is – angel berroa doesnt really seem to be an excellent fit for short stop either and ransom does not have the ability to replace anyone at the plate for any significant amount of time.
A couple of other things that maybe a few people have forgotten about our old friend phil hughes which should have given us some confidence while we continue to anxiously await his arrival to the majors:
1. Immediately prior to his hamstring injury in 2007, hughes was pitching a no-hitter through 6 1/3 innings against a pretty good hitting rangers team
2. Hughes won three out of his last four games that he pitched in 2007 and was pretty dominant in his last game versus the solid hitting rays.
3. He came in to relieve Clemens in the 2007 ALDS and pitched almost 4 innings of scoreless ball against a VERY good hitting indians club
4. In his last game of 2008, Hughes was absolute dominant against the jays going 8 innings of 2 run ball giving up just 5 hits and no walks and striking out 6 in only his second game back in the majors after a long time
5. Hughes was working on both his change up and a cutter last year to replace his slider neither of which had been perfected yet and NEEDS time to go to scranton this year to develop a solid third and fourth pitch to compliment his two and four seamer and his curve. This is why andy pettitte signing was the best thing that could have happened to Hughes.
6. Injuries happen every single season and joba can only pitch about 150 innings max over the course of the regular season. Hughes will definitely be called up at some point next season and he will be ready this time.
I think ransom is better than berroa as a infield backup option but it would be nice if we could get someone that can actually be able to give us a little something off the bench besides being a VERY weak backup option that can only play in spot starts for guys but never actually start for any significant length.
Considering everything above it is really not very factual to even suggest that Hughes has not shown us more than glimmers of talent even at the major league level. He has the makeup, the stuff, the command, the plethora of pitches, the poise and the promise. Even if change-up seems to be slowly coming along. There are questions surrounding the actual velocity he can reach but he has yet to be in the league long enough to see if his power develops to sit consistently around 93-94. The main problem is his ability to stay healthy it seems but the kid is only 22. He can be given a little more time before we deem him a failure and trade him for a bag of balls. Last off season, the twins wanted to give us johan santana for hughes – that is how much they thought of this kid’s worth. And the twins are pretty good at evaluating talent last time I checked. Just look at Mauer, Morneau, Liriano and Nathan.
And that guy Santana that the twins got for some dude named Jared Camp (Who?!) wasnt too shabby either. I think the twins know a thing or two about evaluating young talent.
Hughes can be successful throwing 91. It’s not necessarily the speed which gives him a plus fastball. It’s the late life. If he can consistently throw 93-94 without sacrificing control and the late life which makes timing his fastball so difficult… even better.
I think Hughes has a bright future but I don’t think the fact that the Twins wanted him means all that much. They knew they were trading Johan and were simply trying to get the top prospects from whatever teams came calling. Joba was off limits just as Buchholz was so they asked for Hughes/Kennedy/plus 2 or Lester/Ellsbury/plus 2 (Lowrie and Masterson I believe). The fact that the Mets got him without giving up Martinez was a steal. If they really really loved Hughes, they would have pulled the trigger when they were actually offered him. That’s not to say they don’t like him… just that it was more a case of “give us your two best prospects” to whoever called them up.
Thanks a lot for all the comments.
Kevin
Kevin -
Nice post, good topic. I hope Bob Sheppard is at least able to open the new stadium. I wish the other guy didn’t sound like him. It feels like a cheap imitation, and that’s just wrong.
Nice post Kevin. And thank you Bob Sheppard. When I think of my memmories of the Stadium, I hear your voice. Your voice will certainly live for ever.
Saved the best for last…nice job, Kevin.
I wonder who the Yanks’ opponent was in that first game in 1951? Perhaps a HOFer or two in that line-up as well?
Green Beret…
Was that the Dave Casper play? Never heard it called that, but it fits.
They ended up changing at least one rule because of that play.
Nice work, Kevin.
My dad, who we jokingly call “old” was 1 when Bob Sheppard became the Voice of Yankee Stadium. That has always boggled my mind.
Good job Kevin, Sheppard is missed. I want to thank Pete again for giving us this oppurtunity, it was fun. I know a lot of people didn’t like it on here the guest posts, but it was something different. Now we can look forward to his spring training preview tomorrow and who knows what else for next week.
Is Phil Pavano Hughes able to report to Spring Training this year? That will be a miracle within itself.
Is it deja vue all over again?
NOW…
“I do hear the rumblings,” Cashman said. “People expect us to get in on Manny. But that’s not going to happen. We’re tapped.”.
TWO MONTHS AGO…
“It would be fantasy think we would sign both Sabathia and Teixeira at these prices”.
John in Ohio
Yeah, the intentional fumble and batting the ball forward. Leave it to a Raider to pull that one off.
Now the ball comes back to the point of the fumble.
(more fun the other way! lol.)
according to multiple sources, hughes was hitting 95-96 regularly at the end of last season.
First time I’ve heard two called ‘a plethora of pitches’, Dave…
Plethora = overabundance.
Know you love Hughes, but …
Ham
so was Daniel Cabrera.
of course that meant hitters…
Nice post. The last year of Yankee Stadium was not complete because of his absence.
No knock to Jim Hall, who does a solid job.
However, how do you replace Bob Sheppard?
Talk about impossible!
Clare, I don’t know how Kepner feels about Torre one way or the other, but I thought (and you’re welcome!) his blog was a pretty good indictment of the man.
I agree with your entire second paragraph. Several players have come out and said that the A-Fraud thing was a joke (Bowa said it first), said to Alex’s face. I believe that at some point it became that, but it was first said behind his back….and certainly not in a joking manner. That’s what Torre reported in the book, in conjunction with a nasty comment about Alex trying to fit in by being like a B-movie actor. That is a nasty comment to make. Eventually this book tour is going to stop and the interviews will end. The only thing left standing will be the book and the words in the book are what people will remember (that players snickered behind A-Rod’s back), not what Torre spinned on tv (that the comments were a joke).
LOL I didn’t mean to start the Phil Hughes debate again – I’d rather talk about Joba to the pen than this……
Nice job Kevin. Tradition has always been such a strong theme in Yankee lore and that includes Bob Sheppard’s voice but like it or not; nothing lasts forever.
Dave, I’m staying out of whatever debate occurs on Phil now, but I had to mention this – Phil was the #1 ranked pitching prospect, not #2.
I am so glad the pinch hit stuff is done. They were all pretty much awful. I realize Petes endgame. To show that not everyone can do a blog.
pete’s endgame was to give himself a break before the marathon starts. he’s basically going to be on call from next week through november. stop whining
I’ve never understood all the whining about the Guest Blog Series.
Especially when critics say, “they were all pretty much awful”.
No, they weren’t. Some were better than others. Which is no different from any blog.
Most of the writers are young and are new to writing for an audience. Why rip them?
Especially when you offer no constructive criticism aside from saying they are “awful”. Any dolt can do that.
Let’s take today’s entry for example. Its FAR from awful. Its an interesting topic and (I think at least) Kevin did a nice job blending history with the feeling of warmth Bob Sheppard brings to his job.
At the end of the day, just about all of the pinch hitters gave us something to discuss. It passed the time prior to ST and also gave some of them a bigger stage to get their blogs out in public. They put themselves out there for scrutiny. Which, at least IMO, they deserve props for doing so.
What’s the harm? I’m not seeing any.
I recorded Bob Sheppard announcing the lineups of a game vs. the Twins in ‘77 and not sorry I did now. He had been a legend at the Stadium already.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Sheppard
Great post Kevin
People who complain about the guest bloggers for the most part are just complainers, period.
If Pete had his name at the end of the same post the guest blogger just made they would either say nothing or comment on how insightful it was.
So relax, Ron. Miraculously the sun still came up again this morning in spite of such an “awful” post.
Besides, a post about the great Bob Sheppard, especially at this time, is not only appropriate but almost mandatory.
I think I’d pay just to hear him order a pastrami on rye at the corner deli.
Attention shoppers now serving #2, pastrami on rye, #2
you’re giving me goosebumps, Tom!
lol.
GreenBeret7
February 5th, 2009 at 1:06 am
I enjoy hearing Bob Shepard as much as anybody, but, the title of “The Voice Of God” belongs to John Facenda, who did the voiceovers for NFL Films for years.
—–
Great call GB, my thoughts exactly.
Growing up, I had the pleasure of hearing the one and only Bob Sheppard’s voice in two places – one, in Yankee Stadium, and the second in another cathedral – St. Christopher’s Church in Baldwin (on Long Island). Mr. Sheppard was a regular lector during early weekday masses, many of which I attended. I was an altar boy, and I lived very close to the church (and attended the parish school), so I often got assigned the serve at the early mass (7 am). I remember a few things about him – one, he was always very well dressed. Two, he was very devout. Three, his wife was always with him; she served as a Eucharistic Minister (she was able to distrubute communion). Four, he was incredibly kind and polite. Fifth, and most importantly, his delivery from the pulpit was just as deep and deliberate as his delivery from the booth. “A reading…from the book…of the prophet…Isaiah.” Classic. As a Yankee fan, I could never forget it. I hope he’s able to make it to a few games this year…IMO, any Yankee stadium is not quite complete without him.
Very nice job, kid!
Bob Shepard had a very good voice.
Thanks a lot everyone. The comments are appreciated. Mr. Sheppard is a very unique character. I mean..how many other PA Announcers do you even know?
Kevin