Voice of the Week: Mike Shannon

[The Professor]

OK, I may not do this on strict weekly schedule, but I'll try not to overdo it...in the meantime, since I'm avoiding a term paper (Ugh! A rough draft of c.30 pages is due Monday, I've got about 60 pages of half written/half note, 1/3 of which is coherent done... )

So, for the second VoW thread, I'm going to offer up my guy. No, he isn't my favorite announcer, but he is the 'Voice' of my favorite team...
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MIKE SHANNON
The Moonman or, perhaps more aptly, The Poet-Laureate of Ice Cold Budweiser



Voice of the St. Louis Cardinals 1972-Present

Signatures:

-- on homeruns: "Get up baby, get up, get up!"

McGwire's #70

MORE AUDIO COMING

-- As one person has recounted, Shannon's nightly schtick is "part Vaudeville routine, part drunken soliloquy". It seems obvious to many that, as a game progresses, The Moonman is clearly enjoying plenty of the "cold, frosty, Budweiser" he hawks each inning.

-- Close Games elicit a country squawk: "Ooooo-wee! We got a barn burner goin on down here!"

-- With a game on the line, his trademark: "Old Abner has done it again!" is familiar to Cardinals fans, as is his ubiquitous hillbilly cackle.

-- With a count 3-0, just take the walk, or as Mike would say: "You don't kick that dog as he's sleeping on the porch, you don't step on his tail, you just walk on by. If you step on his tail, he might jump up and bite you on the ankle or the kneecap."

-- Jason Isringhausen's 9th inning routine: "Izzy's like a wild hare in March, running all over the lot!"

-- In addition to his countryfied/Ozarkified sayings, there are the legendary malaprops known as Shannonisms (as colorful as anything Jerry Coleman ever said!):

Well, folks, this game began as a tiny worm and is blossoming into a large cobra.

Hideo Nomo is the biggest thing to hit Japan since they dropped that bomb on Nagashima!

He's madder than a pig caught under a barnyard gate.

I just want to tell everyone Happy Easter and Happy Hanukkah.

Things are not always as they appear to be as.

Well, he did everything right to get ready for the throw, but if ya ain't got the hose, the water just won't come out.

Gilkey was originally born in University City.

Like Spring makes the rains come, so does the edge of the plate grow.

The Dodgers are ahead by 5 runs or 3 runs or in between there somewhere.

He ran to second faster than a cat in Chinatown.

We'd like to say hello to all those folks listening in Monkey's Eyebrow, Kentucky.

--In regard to an official scorer's questionable ruling:

Well, no one's perfect. Only one guy was ever perfect, Jack, and they nailed him to a tree!


-- Shannon is St. Louis through and through. He was born in St. Louis in 1939, played college ball at Mizzou before joining the Cardinals.

-- Greatest moment as a player? Homering off of the Yankees Whitey Ford in the 1964 World Series.

--His playing days came to an end in 1970 when Shannon was diagnosed with a severe kidney disorder. After playing in 52 games that year, doctors told him he was through. His career as a player lasted from 1962 to 1970, during which the team captured three pennant wins and two World Series Championships. Altogether, he had appeared in 879 games with 2,780 career at bats, 710 hits and a .255 lifetime average.

--After a year spent in the Cardinals front office, Shannon was offered a spot next to Jack Buck in the KMOX broadcasting booth. Being a color analyst was different, but it was still baseball. “Sure it was a bit of a transition. But I knew the game pretty well,” he says. “I also had Jack Buck there to help out. If you want a teacher, he’s a good one to have.”

--Shannon is also known for the fine dining establishment that bears his name, Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood.

-- Shannon likes books on political and history topics, and recommends George Will when it comes to baseball authors.

-- Shannon's new partner for 2006, John Rooney (a native Missourian), did many Mike Shannon impersonations while working games for the Chicago White Sox.

-- A 1999 Inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame

-- Shannon has been described as "something of a slickster. With his dyed-black pompadour, goofy sportcoats, and lopsided Robert Mitchum grin, you might easily peg him as some cheapo insurance salesman."

In almost every way, Shannon will live in the shadow of his mentor and friend Jack Buck. His many professional failings are only magnified by Buck's brilliance, but for those willing to give Shannon a chance, he is easily the most unique broadcaster in the Major Leagues. For every St. Louis fan who loves his passion and appreciates his down-home lingo, there are those who despise him even in the home crowd. Broadcasting expert Curt Smith has described Shannon as "inept" and "boring"...which says a lot more about Smith than it does about Shannon (IMO).

Maybe Shannon is an acquired taste, but if you get him - I mean, really get him, a night with Mike Shannon is moonlight, cool grass, and a front porch somewhere in the summertime Midwest with an old-timer in the rocking chair speaking a language that, for all its rough edges, is pure old-fashioned baseball....and lots of cold, frosty, Budweiser.

[attackemu]

Prof, I really hope you keep these up. I'm loving them!

[R. Hansh]

Shannon's Steak and Seafood= Good eating!

[The Professor]

Well, I can't get any decent audio programs to work to provide short clips of Shannon's work, sooooo...

1982 Cardinals Highlights

This is the first half of the 1982 Cardinals highlights record narrated by Jack Buck. Most of the work here is, of course, Buck's...but at about 16:15 into the audio is one of Shannon's most memorable calls - Glenn Brummer stealing home with the bases loaded...

[The Professor]

Shannonisms!!

"This big standing-room only crowd is settling into their seats."

"It's raining like a Chinese fire drill!"

(After Brian Jordan was hit by a pitch for the 4th time on a single road trip): "Jordan must feel like a Ouija Board."

"He's faster than a chicken being chased by Ronald McDonald!"

(Referring to Mike Schmidt):
"the longtime, and soon-to-be, Hall-of-Famer."

"This game is off to a rather conspicuous start, don't you think. Jack?"

"That foul tip bounced up and caught him right in the groins...and that'll really clear your eyes out."

"A hit up the middle right now would be like a nice ham sandwich and a cold, frosty one."

(Broadcasting from New York under a full moon):
"I wish you folks back in St. Louis could see this moon."

"Our next homestand follows this road trip."

(Referring to a home run by Ted Simmons):
"and that's the bread on Simmons' butter."

"I've heard it said that if you know English, Spanish, Italian, and I think it's French, you can go just about anywhere in this world...except China where they have all those derelicts."

After a pause, Joe Buck suggested that Mike has meant to say "dialects." Mike responded, "Yeah, dialects! That's what I mean...but they've got a lot of derelicts too!"

"I wouldn't have see it if I hadn't believed it."

"Don't bite off your head to spite your nose."

Joe: "Mike, the Cardinals would like to welcome a group of 19 French foreign exchange students in Section 382."
Mike: "Where're they from, Joe?"
Joe: "Uhh, France, I think."

A couple of years back, Mike and Joe were discussing the unflattering photographs of players that had been flashed on the screen at another ballpark. Mike's take on the quality of the photo selection was:
"Some of those guys look like the picture was taken while they were seeing their first UFO."
After several seconds of laughter, Joe added, "As opposed to their second or third."

"The wind switched 360 degrees."

"Boy, a cold, frosty Budweiser would be great about now"...long pause...then an "ahhh"

"It's raining so hard I thought it was going to stop."

"The crowd's on their feet for the Canadian Star Bangled Banner."

"Back in the day when I played, a pitcher had 3 pitches: a fastball, a curveball, a slider, a changeup and a good sinker pitch."

After a batter leading off the ninth inning with his team down by three tried to hit a home run but swung and missed: "He was trying to hit a three run homer with the bases empty. To my knowledge, no one in the history of the game has ever done that. But it could happen someday. You never know in this world of baseball."

"One run in this ballpark (Wrigley) is like a grain of salt in the Sahara Desert."

"Winning streaks in Pittsburgh are about as common as a 600-acre lake in the middle of the Sahara Desert."

"Albert ripped into that pitch the way the Cookie Monster rips into cookies."

"He's as happy as if he just received his first bicycle from Santa Clause on Christmas Morning."

"A couple of strips of bacon at breakfast and he'd a busted that ball out of here."

(The TV lights were on in the press box and the umpire stopped the game until they were turned off) "The reason you can't do that is the light will get in the fielder's eyes and they'll get hit right between the coconuts."

(On Whitey Herzog) "The key thing is, he has that photogenic mind."

"Both men could have been hurt and that would have wiped out two-thirds of the infield."

(Referring to a sub who has a good attitude) "Very seldom do you see him chipping his teeth on the bench."

"He's bringing the ball up there 95 mph or better. It's powder river. You like fastballs, munch on this."

"Everyone's on a pitch count now, you people down on the farms don't let major league baseball on your place or they will have the cows on a pitch count."

"So Taguchi, who wears number 99, unless you stand him upside down and then it's 66."

"He hails from the island of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is an island isn't it? Well, just try to swimming off of it and I guess you'll find out."

(About a game in Montreal) "This game is moving along pretty quick, it must have something to do with the exchange rate."

"Well that's the life of a reliever. It's either a mountain or a valley, there's no in-between. You either get all of the glory or all of the goat hair."

(A fan hit with a foul ball) "And that youngster will leave the stadium with a souvenir today. Not a ball, but a nice looking bruise."

"Acevedo tried to sneak that pitch past Pujols on the inside corner, that's like trying to sneak the sun past the rooster."

"popped up into foul territory and out of play, oh that ball landed right in that lady's Busch"

[darkhorse]

Here's one of Shannon calling the Pujols homer from last season's playoff with the Astros.

http://www.geocities.com/kfrcrc/audi...abyshannon.mp3

[darkhorse]

A couple more from Shannon.

McGwire's 500th.

Cardinals Clinch in 2002.