Mike Shannon oral history interview, 1967 or 1968

Mike Shannon oral history interview

Date1967 or 1968

DescriptionAn interview of Mike Shannon that was conducted by the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis, Missouri in 1967 or 1968. Content of the interview include: Side One -- Track 1 - Born in 1939, 28 years old; started out as an outfielder, left, right and center, caught his first game in the big leagues, quite a thrill, and now this year played third base, 120-125 games so far at third base, playing the "hot corner," Joe Torre made a believer out of him, hit a line drive in Atlanta that went off his chest; third base is a position where you do it or you don't do it, the plays are fast, you don't have a lot of time, not too much thought, it's mostly reactions, you either make the play or you don't; just tries to catch the ball and get it over to first any way he can, get the job done; much rather charge in and risk the error, have to play the game that way 9 out of 10 times, can't play it safe in baseball (00:00:00 to 00:03:07) Track 2 - Likes a quiet home life off season, a family man, a beautiful wife and five wonderful children; likes to hunt and fish, likes the outdoors; Irish background, his wife is Irish and French; Catholics and both born and raised in St. Louis; belong to St. Sebastian's Parish, children go to school there; his two oldest boys enjoy playing baseball, football, basketball (0:03:07 to 00:04:36) Track 3 - On first starting to play baseball in St. Louis in the streets in front of his house, then went to the Khoury League when he was 11 years old, played in South St. Louis, playing with boys who were 15-16; he was fortunate that they didn't have anyone to play, so he got ot play right field; first dollar he made was with the Cardinals in 1958, he was sent to Albany, then Georgia; playing in the Minor Leagues, he was fortunate enough to get a bonus from the Cardinals; he and his wife got married right after the first season, and it was expensive to travel in the Minor Leagues (00:04:36 to 00:06:23) Track 4 - The fans of St. Louis are wonderful fans, always been fine to him, different for a ballplayer playing in his own home town, when he's performing, he sees people in the stands, they are his people, he feels a debt to these people to put out and put on a good show, puts a little more pressure on you playing in your hometown, your next door neighbor or the buddy from down the street is there, but a privilege and pleasure to play in your hometown; very thankful for it (tape ends) (00:06:23 to 00:08:18)

Object numberBL-2001-00092-007

Artist, Creator, or Manufacturer St. Louis Cardinals (Baseball team)

Attributes

Classificationsaudio/visual materials

Collection NumberBA RMA 003 St. Louis Cardinals oral history collection

Library Call NumberRR 377

Dimensions00:08:18|1 of 1

Copyrighthttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. Only a portion of NBHFM's collection is currently online and the information presented here is subject to updates and additions based on research and imaging activities. The images, titles, and descriptions are products of their time. If you have corrections or additional information about this object, please email research@baseballhall.org to help improve our records. This material is made available for private study, scholarship, and research use. Every effort has been made to accurately determine the rights status of images. Please email us if you have further information on the rights status of an image contrary to or in addition to the information in our records. For more information or access to a high resolution reproduction (some fees may apply), contact: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Giamatti Research Center, research@baseballhall.org, 607-547-0330.