By: John Denton
ST. LOUIS — Mike Shannon won two World Series, hit the final home run at Busch Stadium I, the first homer at Busch Stadium II and made a position change to accommodate the arrival of Roger Maris, but he certainly wasn’t the greatest Cardinals player of all time.
Shannon was best friends with feared and fearsome competitor Bob Gibson — during their playing days and beyond — but there’s no plaque commemorating Gibby’s most trusted confidant in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Shannon was behind the microphone for the Cardinals Radio Network for 50 years but, by his own admission, he was nowhere near as polished or professional as Hall of Fame announcers Jack Buck and Harry Caray.
But an argument certainly can be made that Shannon — who passed away Sunday at 83 years old — might have been the most influential Cardinal in the rich history of the organization because of the breadth and depth of his contributions as a player, broadcaster and a believer in the city of St. Louis.
As an athlete, Shannon might have been the most well-rounded prep star to come out of St. Louis, becoming the first and only Mr. Football and Mr. Baseball in Missouri history. But before he could head to the University of Missouri and contend for the Heisman Trophy that legendary coach Frank Broyles thought he might someday win, he was lured to baseball by a Cardinals franchise he loved before ever wearing the birds on the bat across his chest.
As a Cardinal for nine seasons, he helped the Redbirds win it all in 1964 and ’67 and nearly again in ’68 — three World Series in which he homered. And Shannon had no stauncher of a supporter than the fiery Gibson.
“They were best friends and so close,” said Cardinals radio voice Mike Claiborne, who called the Redbirds’ loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Sunday. “Bob would just shake his head and grin when it came to Shannon because he was one of a kind. Just 20 minutes of knowing Mike and you were gold with him forever. Him and Gibby literally were best friends — to the point where he was Mike’s last living teammate, and they were best friends all those years.”
As a broadcaster, Shannon was something of an accidental participant. A serious kidney disease ended his playing career prematurely, so he spent a year in the Cardinals’ promotions office before moving into the radio booth alongside Buck. The legendary Buck was the consummate professional, mixing his dry wit with a commanding voice and a precision that once made him the lead national TV voice for baseball and football — much the same way his son, Joe, would be decades later.
For as serious and by-the-book professional as Buck was, Shannon was more than happy to be the funny man who brought levity to broadcasts, and he would even poke fun at himself. His style was that of someone watching a game one barstool over and cracking the comments that Joe Everyman would make instead of some stiff shirt behind a microphone.
