Newsday confirms the disappointing but not unexpected news regarding the Voice of God and the rumors we heard all winter:
Bob Sheppard, the Yankees' public address announcer since the 1951 home opener, will not work the final opener at Yankee Stadium Monday as he continues to recover from health problems that have limited him for the past six months.
That does not mean, though, that he will miss all of the final season at the Stadium. While he declined to put a timetable on his return, Sheppard said he is aiming for a comeback sometime this summer.
"I don't know when it will be, but it will be," he said yesterday from his home in Baldwin.
It's a damn shame that such an iconic figure in Yankee lore will not attend the final Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, but at least his spirits are high and expects to return to his throne at some point this season.