Mike Shannon served as a broadcaster for the St. Louis Cardinals for 50 years on the Cardinals radio network, becoming the 14th broadcaster in baseball history to serve as long as 50 years in the booth and just the sixth to spend it all with one team. Throughout his years as a broadcaster for the Cardinals, Shannon has also made appearances for the Cardinals television broadcasts, including as a pre-game analyst for FOX Midwest. He also has worked with NBC's Baseball Game of the Week and called Cardinals football games on radio.
A St. Louis native, Shannon broke into the big leagues with the Cardinals in 1962 and became the regular right fielder during the 1964 World Championship season. During the 1964 Series opener vs. New York, he hit a game-tying, two-run homer as St. Louis went on to defeat the Yankees in seven games. In 1967 Shannon was moved to third base to make room for newly acquired right fielder Roger Maris, as the Cardinals went on to win two straight National League pennants in 1967 and '68 as well as the 1967 World Series.
Mike's career was cut short by a kidney disease in 1970. He joined the Cardinals front office in 1971 as assistant director of promotions and sales and entered the broadcast booth in 1972, where he has remained. His many years with the organization gave Shannon a unique insight in his commentary. He was honored at the end of the 2007 season for his 50 years of service with the club.
Shannon has received numerous awards and honors throughout his career. A gifted athlete, he was a High School All-American football player, and in 1957 was named the Missouri prep Player of the Year in both basketball and football - the only player ever to receive both in the same year. He was named St. Louis Ambassador's 1993 Sportsman of the Year, received the 1985 Emmy Award for Sports Broadcasting, St. Louis chapter, and received the Sportscaster of the Year award for the state of Missouri from the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association (NSSA) in 2002, 2003 and 2014. In 1999, Shannon was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in recognition of his on-air career and as a player on the field, and in May 2013 the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame named Mike a Missouri Sports Legend, the 26th such honor given. In 2009 he was selected to be a member of the Academy of Missouri Squires and was honored as St. Louis Press Club Media Person of the Year in 2010. He was inducted into the Cardinals Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural induction class in 2014 and was named a finalist for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Ford C. Frick Award in 2014 and 2020. |
