Mike Shannon has been a staple of St. Louis Cardinals baseball radio broadcast for the last 40 something years. Broadcasting on KTRS 550, you can tell when your neighbors are listening as Albert Pujols pounds another home run into Big Mac Land or Homers Landing. Other than Jack Buck and Harry Caray, Shannon has had the pleasure of broadcasting for many years in Baseball Heaven. This year Mike Shannon has been nominated for the Frick Award for making a major contribution to baseball (more about the Frick Award). You can vote for Mike Shannon or any other broadcaster at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Website.

As a St. Louis Cardinals Fan I have to listen to the Cardinals game on XM Satellite Radio, unless the Cardinals are on the road in my current city. XM Radio will broadcast the “Home Team” broadcast, unless it is not available, so I have had the pleasure of listening to other teams broadcast of the Cardinals Game. With that said, I will NOT be voting for Mike Shannon. I will cast as many votes as possible for John Rooney, Joe Buck or Al Hrabosky. Before I am labeled a Cub Fan - please hear me out. The innings that I am forced to listen to Mike Shannon’s recount of the game, I will sometimes see the small scoreboard on my XM radio tick another out or run, with NO MENTION of it from Shannon. He might be interviewing a long time friend, reminiscing about some play that Whitey Herzog had orchestrated during the ’80s, or plugging his restaurant - but oblivious to any action on the field.

Unfortunately I cannot complain to KTRS as they simply broadcast the feed from the stadium, and complaining to the Cardinals would be like asking a hunter to hug a deer. So I ask my fellow bloggers, readers (you know who you are), and random people that land here from a search engine, vote for your favorite baseball broadcaster, just not Mike Shannon.

Please call the game Mike, or retire.

[ geek:translated ]