Will Bob Sheppard open the new Yankee Stadium?

Probably not, according to Newsday:

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2009/03/bob_sheppard_probably_wont_be.html?mid=daily-intel--20090327

 

I hope I look this good when I'm NINETY-freaking-EIGHT.

Holy cow, to mix baseball voice metaphors.

 

Oh man that sucks.

 

No Bob Sheppard at the first regular season game = jinx of considerable karmic power.

 

They're jinxed enough.

Just wait until CC pulls a hammy jogging to the buffet line.

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/25706746

How about this Darren Rovell story about the possibility that they could have Sheppard do voice recordings for about 10 hours and be able to have a "computerized Sheppard" announce names at Yankee Stadium forever. I can't decide if that's awesome or really creepy.

 

I would hope, if nothing else, that Sheppard can at least come to the Stadium for the opener and be driven around the field in a car so the fans can give him one huge cheer.

 

I'll never forget the time a few years ago when I was in the press box working a couple hours before game time and felt a tap on my shoulder.

The unmistakable voice: "Excuse me, but can you tell me how to pronounce this name?"

So because of me, Bob Sheppard knows how to pronounce Yuniesky Betancourt.

It's going to be tough to try to carry the Yankee Stadium mystique across the street if that voice isn't part of it.

 

great anecdote, ab.

 

It's creepy. Let it go. When he can't do it any more, it's time for someone else to get a chance and start a new tradition. If they want to play a generic recorded "Welcome to Yankee Stadium" or "Here are today's lineups," that's probably OK as a tribute. To think someone will be splicing syllables together to make virtual Bob is too weird and totally unnecessary.

 

Oh man. I so wanted this to be about Shigetoshi Hasegawa...Sheppard's all-time favorite name.

 

Great story, AB.

And I agree with Smasher -- that would be just as creepy as when they had the animated (and bobblehead, IIRC?) Mel Allen still doing the intro on TWIB after he died.