ST. LOUIS -- Mike Shannon, the longtime "Voice of the Cardinals," will no longer broadcast the team's road games after the Cardinals agreed to his request to further cut back his radio duties.
The decision to be replaced in the broadcast booth for away games was Shannon's, the Cardinals confirmed. He'll be replaced by Ricky Horton, also a member of the organization's television broadcasting team, and Mike Claiborne, but Shannon will still broadcast games during Spring Training.
This next season will be Shannon's 45th in the broadcast booth, where he has worked alongside play-by-play man John Rooney for the past decade. Shannon, 76, began reducing his road workload a few years ago so that he could spend more time at home. This will be the first season, however, in which he does not travel at all.
Shannon, who preceded his move to broadcasting with a nine-year playing career in St. Louis, plans to serve as the Cardinals Radio Network's analyst for all 81 home games this season.
This move, which was first reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, comes just days after Shannon released a statement confirming that the downtown restaurant which bears his name will be closing at the end of the month. Mike Shannon's Steaks and Seafood restaurant has been a staple of downtown for 30 years, the past 10 of which have been at the Market Street location visible from Busch Stadium.
Shannon's two other restaurant locations -- one in Edwardsville, Ill., and the other at St. Louis' Lambert International Airport -- will remain in business.