Happy Birthday, Mike Shannon – Here Are Some Interesting Facts About Mike
Happy birthday to Cardinal broadcaster Mike Shannon, who turns 78 tomorrow. If you have listened to St. Louis Cardinal Baseball since 1962, you have heard about him playing for the Redbirds or have heard him broadcasting the Cardinal games. Here are some interesting facts about Mike that you may not know.
1. Mike grew up on Winona Avenue in South St. Louis.
2. His Father, Thomas Shannon, was a police officer and became the city's prosecuting attorney.
3. Mike has six children.
4. Mike played one football season at the University of Missouri as a quarterback. Coach Frank Broyles said that Mike was good enough to win the Heisman Trophy. He left football after getting drafted by the Cardinals.
5. Attended CBC High School and was named Missouri High school player of the year for football and basketball.
6. Played from 1962 to 1970 for the Cardinals and was forced into retirement due to Nephritis (a kidney disease).
7. Joined Jack Buck in the broadcast booth in 1972.
8. Mike was a member of two World Series winning teams in 1964 and 1967 (he hit World Series home run off Whitey Ford of the Yankees in 1964).
9. He regularly visits the Vets at the Illinois Veteran's Home in Quincy.
10. Owns restaurants in St. Louis and Edwardsville, Illinois.
11. Married Lori Bergman, owner of Destination Travel in Quincy