Shannon was the proprietor of Mike Shannon's Steaks and Seafood restaurant in downtown St. Louis until it closed on January 30, 2016.[1] Shannon continued to operate two Mike Shannon's Grill locations, in Edwardsville, Illinois, that closed in 2022, and at St. Louis Lambert International Airport, which is run by his grandson, Justin VanMatre.[2]
Early life
Shannon was born on July 15, 1939,[3] and raised in south St. Louis, the second-oldest of six children of Thomas A. Shannon and Elizabeth W. Richason Shannon.[4] Shannon's father was a St. Louis police officer and after getting his law degree, worked in the prosecuting attorney's office before becoming the Prosecuting Attorney for the City of St. Louis in the early 1970s.[5]
Shannon attended grade school at Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic School and graduated from Christian Brothers College High School in 1957.[6] He was the Missouri High School Player of the Year in both football and basketball his senior year and remains the only athlete to win both awards in the same year.[7]
Shannon attended the University of Missouri and played college baseball for the Missouri Tigers before leaving in 1958 to begin his professional baseball career after signing with Bing Devine, general manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. Shannon, a quarterback, believed himself to be a better football player, and has said that if football players had been paid better during his era, he probably would have stayed at Missouri and sought a professional football career. His former coach Frank Broyles said that had he stayed in school, Shannon might have won the Heisman Trophy.[8]
Shannon joined the Cardinals' promotional staff in 1971; a year later he moved to the team's radio booth. For almost three decades Shannon was paired with Hall of Fame announcer Jack Buck on AM 1120 KMOX and the Cardinals Radio Network. After Buck's death in 2002, Shannon became the team's lead radio voice, teaming with Joel Meyers (2002), Wayne Hagin (2003–2005), and John Rooney (2006–2021). In 2006, he moved to KTRS (550) which had won broadcasting rights for the Cardinals and ownership of the station. For the 2011 season, KMOX regained the rights for Cardinals broadcasting and Shannon returned to his former employer.[12]
Shannon received a local Emmy Award for his work on Cardinal broadcasts in 1985, and was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.[13] He was named Missouri Sportscaster of the Year in 2002 and 2003.[14]
Shannon's signature home run call was "Here's a long one to left/center/right, get up baby, get up, get up...oh yeah!"[15]
Counting his tenure in the minor leagues, Shannon spent 64 years—nearly his entire adult life—with the Cardinals in some capacity.[17] He also called Cardinals games longer than anyone, 50 years.
The KMOX radio booth
On August 8, 2014, Shannon was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame.[18]
From 2016 until his retirement in 2021, Shannon only called home games for the Cardinals.[19] On January 14, 2021, Shannon announced that the 2021 season, his 50th in the broadcast booth, would be his last.[20] On October 3, 2021, the Cardinals honored Shannon in a farewell ceremony.[21]
Illness and death
Shannon contracted COVID-19 in October 2020, spending 15 days in the hospital, and being placed in a medically induced coma. He recovered but dealt with long COVID in the aftermath.[22]
Shannon died in Marion, Illinois, on April 29, 2023, at the age of 83, after suffering a stroke.[23]
Interview with Mike Shannon conducted by Eugene Murdock at the SABR Convention in Saint Louis, Missouri, on July 29, 1978. According to the description at the Cleveland Public Library Digital Gallery, the interview is followed by questions from the audience and also includes remarks by sportscaster Bob Costas and player Flip Holliday: Part 1, Part 2
