Voice of Yankee Stadium is stilled

NEW YORK - Bob Sheppard, whose elegant introductions of stars from Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium for more than a half century earned him the nickname "The Voice of God," died Sunday. He was 99.

The revered public address announcer died at his Long Island home in Baldwin with his wife, Mary, at his side, the Yankees said.

Mr. Sheppard started with the Yankees in 1951 and last worked at Yankee Stadium late in the 2007 season, when he became ill with a bronchial infection. He recorded a greeting to fans that was played at the original ballpark's final game on Sept. 21, 2008, and his audio recording still is used to introduce Jeter before each at-bat at home by the Yankees captain.

"I grew up a Yankee fan and he was the voice I always heard," Jeter said Sunday.

"There were a few times sprinkled in and out that he wasn't there and it didn't sound right. So I had the idea to record his voice and always used it as long as I was playing."

Jeter's reaction was echoed by many of his teammates.

"His voice, there was nobody better," catcher Jorge Posada said. "People looked forward to coming to Yankee Stadium to hear that voice."

Former player and current Yankees manager Joe Girardi considered him someone who should be revered with all the greats in Yankees history. The Seattle Mariners had a moment of silence in honor of him before Sunday's series finale against the Yankees.

"When you think of Bob Sheppard you think of all the tradition with the Yankees, said former player and current Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "You think about Ruth and Gehrig and Yogi and Joe D and Mantle, and I think you mention Bob Sheppard. That's how important he was to this franchise."

On May 7, 2000, after 50 years and two weeks on the job, the Yankees honored him with "Bob Sheppard Day" and put a plaque in his honor in Monument Park. When the team moved into new Yankee Stadium last year, it named the media dining room after him.

He also served as the stadium voice of the NFL's New York Giants from 1956 to 2005, and for men's basketball and football at St. John's University, where he taught, for Army football, and the for Cosmos soccer team.

But baseball is what made him famous.

He announced at 62 World Series games and a pair of All-Star games, and introduced more than 70 Hall of Famers across his career. It was one of them, Reggie Jackson, who dubbed Mr. Sheppard "The Voice of God."

Unlike the shrill shills of later generations, Mr. Sheppard conducted himself with an understated and dignified delivery. He employed perfect diction, befitting a man who considered his real job teaching speech at St. John's. He graduated from the school in 1932 and later worked there for more than 25 years.

"A P.A. announcer is not a cheerleader, or a circus barker, or a hometown screecher," the epitome of the old-school style once said. "He's a reporter."

Mr. Sheppard, who followed the Giants across the Hudson River when they moved to New Jersey, received a ring after the team won its first Super Bowl in the 1986 season; it complemented his Yankees' World Series jewelry. His football calls covered the Giants from Frank Gifford through Tiki Barber.

While few might have recognized Mr. Sheppard in person, his voice was unmistakable. Once, while ordering a Scotch and soda at a bar, he watched as heads turned his way. He often read at Mass, and was subsequently greeted by parishioners noting he sounded exactly like the announcer at Yankee Stadium.

"I am," he would reply.

Mr. Sheppard, while proud of his work with the Yankees, also was known for his speaking as a church lector. He taught priests how to give sermons.

"I electrified the seminary by saying seven minutes is long enough on a Sunday morning. Seven minutes. But I don't think they listened to me," he told The Associated Press in 2006.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Sheppard is survived by sons Paul and Christopher; daughters Barbara and Mary; four grandchildren; and at least nine great-grandchildren.

A wake will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, with the funeral to be held Thursday in Baldwin, N.Y.