"He's Dead. Dead."

Bob Sheppard dead at 99. When George head the news, he asked his secretary to get Billy Martin on the line because he wanted to break the news to him personally. The poor bastard worked until he was 97. The Yankees finally got around to announcing his retirement last November. Below is the Stoop post on Sheppard's retirement:


"I'm Done. Done."

Did you see that Bob Sheppard has announced that he is retiring as the Yankee public address announcer? I wonder, did he make his retirement announcement over the Yankee public address system in the third Yankee Stadium? How cool would it have been to hear that:

"I announce that I quit. I quit".

Talk about things that are past due- the guy is going to be 100 years old next year! That means he has been cashing social security checks since Mickey Mantle was playing.

The guy is so old, he got his last name from his previous occupation.

When Sheppard first started announcing, the PA system wasn't even invented yet. He would open the press box window and yell at the top of his lungs.

Imagine the poor bastard who was Sheppard's backup? Every winter he probably thought, "I'm finally gonna get the job".

That guy probably died years ago.

Bob Sheppard held on to his job for so long, he makes Cal Ripken look lazy.

I tell you, Sheppard was either the most dedicated person who ever lived or outright crazy.

Think about it: Say your 90 years old. Are you gonna travel to the Bronx for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER?

And after commuting to the Bronx, you have to work? And since baseball has no clock, you never know when the workday is finished- who would do that?