“I was a huge Yankees fan and I attribute this to Bob Sheppard,” said David Freeman, current public address announcer for St. John’s University baseball and the Brooklyn Cyclones. “He was my mentor.”
Freeman, a Woodhaven resident, worked alongside Sheppard at Yankee Stadium for years as an official scorer for Major League Baseball. He has nothing but fond memories about his friend that passed away on July 11.
“I always enjoyed rain delays at Yankee Stadium…we would sit and talk about anything and everything. We would talk about his days at St. John’s and he had tremendous stories,” said Freeman.
Sheppard, 99, a native of Richmond Hill and St. John’s University Sports Hall of Famer, died with his wife, Mary, at his side in his home in Baldwin, L.I.
Another loss for the MLB team came on Tuesday, July 13, when George Steinbrenner, Yankees owner, passed away in Florida. He was 80 years old.
Sheppard was part of the class of 1932 at what was then St. John’s College, where he was one of the first lefty quarterbacks to play collegiately. In 2007, he received St. John’s’ Medal of Honor, the highest award that the university can bestow on a graduate.
“Bob’s contributions to St. John’s were immeasurable both academically and athletically,” said university president Rev. Donald J. Harrington, C.M. in a statement on their Red Storm web site.
“He was a true gentleman, a great teacher and a wonderful announcer. We will all miss him dearly,” said Hall of Fame baseball coach and Athletic Director Emeritus John W. “Jack” Kaiser.
One of Freeman’s doting memories was when Sheppard agreed to introduce Freeman and his wife for the first time via voice recording at their wedding reception in the same way he introduced Yankees to the plate from 1951-2007.
“All of a sudden the music stopped, and after what seemed like seconds of dead silence, that voice said those words. The look on her face was priceless,” said Freeman.
Freeman summed up his feelings and the emotions of New Yorkers everywhere in a tribute blog post entitled “Thank You Bob Sheppard.”
“God decided he wanted his voice back, and called him home.”
