Throwback Thursday: St. Louis Connection

OK, this is clearly not the typical photo I post here. But it has a very strong connection to the theme I maintain. Let's start with the date, it's May 12th. 50 years ago tonight, the Cardinals moved into the second Busch Stadium. They hosted the Atlanta Braves, and won the game 4 - 3. The first Cardinal to hit safely was the gentleman at the microphone, right fielder -- and since 1972, broadcaster -- Mike Shannon.
That makes sense; now on to the story behind this photo. It was taken in the summer of 1989 at a charity breakfast co-sponsored by KMOX, the Cardinals flagship radio station. Mike Shannon, was, of course, the featured speaker. Also on the dais, local TV news anchor Tom O'Neal, restaurateur J. Kim Tucci of the popular St. Louis chain The Pasta House Company, and, in the middle, the evening DJ on KMOX's FM station, KLOU.
That event also helped land me my first steady radio sports gig. KMOX and KLOU's legendary general manager Robert Hyland asked me to produce an audio montage to be played while guests arrived at the breakfast. It was a mix of oldies tied to Cardinals pennant-winning years of the 1960s -- blended with play-by-play clips from those fondly remembered seasons. Mr. Hyland apparently liked the audio program. A year or so after this breakfast, I was offered the chance to host and produce a weekly five-minute sports history feature to air on the mighty MOX: The Sports Time Capsule wove together events from that week in history with original play by play or interview highlights tied to them from the KMOX audio archive.
So it's a couple of Mike's: Shannon and McCann, along with a celebration of St. Louis sports history, perfect for a #Throwback Thursday.

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