BUSCH STADIUM MEMORIES PART V

"Here's the pitch to McGee."
"He fouls it back. It hits the lower facade and flies directly to Mt. Vernon Rams baseball announcer Ted Quinn. Quinn turns and one-hands it while holding a lemonade firmly in his right hand. What a catch!"
Of course only the first line would have been announced by Buck or Shannon. But had they reported the rest of the story, it would have been accurate. It was a great moment for me and was witnessed by several Ram fans sitting around me as we waited for the Cardinal game to end so the RAMS could take on the Edwardsville high school team at Busch Stadium.

I announced the varsity games for Coach Bernard for five or six seasons and got to announce three games at Busch. What a thrill! Their speaker system was so good that I thought about a career as a rock singer with what it could do to my voice.

The way it worked was that I announced when the Rams were at bat and the Edwardsville guy, I've forgotten his name, would take over when E-Ville was up. It was really fun. Two distinct memories for me were a ball that Chad Hammonds hit to center. It was scorched. And Derek Harlan warming in the bullpen, doing imitations of John Tudor, Ricky Horton, and others. It was hilarious.

To announce at Busch, even if it was just a high school game, and to catch a foul ball from Willie McGee--what a day at the old ballyard.