When a cherished public person d!es, their admirers feel a void. Mike Shannon, a popular sportscaster, was no exception. His tragic demise shocked the business and left followers seeking explanations.
As his cause of de@th is investigated, many wonder how such a respected figure d!ed. This article examines the inquiry and Mike Shannon’s de@th hypotheses. Join us as we investigate this tragedy.
Is Mike Shannon’s Cause of De@th Revealed?
Mike Shannon, a former St. Louis Cardinals star player who became a fan favorite as a radio commentator for the team for 50 years, p@ssed away on Saturday (29 April 2023). He was 83. The Cardinals announced but did not specify how or where he p@ssed away. After being diagnosed with Covid-19 in 2020, Shannon ended up in the hospital, where she stayed for a long time.
Shannon spent 50 years or more as a baseball commentator for the same team, making him a rare breed. His longevity, enthusiasm, and dedication to the Cardinal’s success won him the hearts of his audience.
After Albert Pujols of the Cardinals hit a home run in 2003 after being brushed back by Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs, Shannon exclaimed, “Swing and hello, Fourth of July! Take a ride on that knockdown pitch, big boy! Kerry Wood knocked him down, and now Albert looks at him as he goes around first. He glares at him, saying, ‘Take a whiff of that, big boy!’”
Former NBC sportscaster Bob Costas, who started in the industry in St. Louis, has claimed that Shannon may thank his hometown for his success. “He was one of those guys,” he said over the phone, “like Herb Score in Cleveland, Joe Nuxhall in Cincinnati, and Jerry Remy in Boston, where it works because he’s local, he’s one of our guys — and, in his case, grew up in St Louis and was a three-sport star in high school.”
Shannon was known for his signature home run call, “Get up, baby, get up!” and for odd and idiosyncratic lines: He referred to a pop-up as “a home run in a telephone booth” and to a Cardinal victory as an “instrumental win,” and he once declared that a young fan who a foul ball had hit “will leave the stadium with a souvenir today — not a ball but a nice-looking bruise.”
The son of one of Shannon’s radio partners, Jack Buck, Joe Buck, stated over the phone, “His Shannonisms made for great listening, and some of it was so illogical. But you had to know he was one of the most common-sense people I’ve ever met. He had a keen eye for the game and would have been a great manager.”
Thomas Michael Shannon was born to Thomas and Elizabeth (Richardson) Shannon on July 15, 1939, in St. Louis, Missouri. His dad started in law enforcement and worked his way up to municipal prosecutor.
Mike was a football all-American at Christian Brothers College High School and the state’s top prep player in both basketball and football in 1957. He spent a year as a quarterback student at the University of Missouri on a football scholarship.
But he was also a promising baseball player, and in 1958 he signed with the Cardinals for $40,000 (though he later claimed in an autobiography that he was paid nearly $100,000). He spent four years in the minor leagues before making sporadic appearances with the Cardinals in 1962 and 1963.
In the late innings, he regularly filled in defensively for Hall of Fame slugger Stan Musial. Although he played with future Hall of Famers like Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda, and Steve Carlton, Shannon did not follow Musial into the Hall of Fame.
However, he was a reliable player who tied Game 1 of the 1964 World Series with a two-run home run off Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford. The final score was 9-5, and the Cardinals won the game and the series.
After the Cardinals traded for Roger Maris from the Yankees in 1967, Shannon switched positions and began playing third base instead of right. The two hit it off and became fast pals.
After beating the Boston Red Sox in seven games, St. Louis repeated as World Series champions. The next season, the Tigers of Detroit likewise won in seven games, this time against the Cardinals. In every game of those series, Shannon went deep.
Shannon played until 1970, when an inflammatory condition of the kidneys called membranous nephropathy ended his career. In 2014, he was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame after compiling a.255 batting average, 68 home runs, and 367 RBIs.
The shortstop Dick Groat p@ssed away last month, while the catcher Tim McCarver, who also had a successful career as a commentator, p@ssed away in February. In 1971, Shannon started working in the Cardinals’ promotional department, and by 1972, he was the team’s public address announcer.
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In the 1980s, he was also a member of NBC’s “Game of the Week” backup crew, in addition to his role as a Cardinals game announcer. After the 2021 campaign, he called it quits.
His 18 grandkids and 9 great-grandchildren, as well as his wife, Lori (Bergman) Shannon, are among his survivors. He also leaves behind sons Michael Jr., Tim, and Dan and daughters Patricia, Peg, and Erin. His first wife, Judith Ann (Bufe) Shannon, p@ssed away in 2007.
Shannon’s home run in the first game of the 1964 World Series smashed the “u” in the Budweiser sign in left field at Busch Stadium, costing an estimated $5,000 in repairs. He had at first assumed he would have to foot the bill.
In his autobiography, “Get Up, Baby!: My Seven Decades with the St. Louis Cardinals” (2022, with Rick Hummel), he recalled: “Gussie Busch, our owner, said in that gravelly voice of his, ‘That’s all right, buddy. You can break the whole sign down.’ And Gussie paid for it.”
When we learn more about his de@th, we’ll let you know. The data on talkxbox.com is up-to-date.
