The Voice of Wrigley Field
Pieper first got to use an electronic public address system in 1932. “That saved my life,” he said. "Before that, I had to run up and down the lines with my megaphone to make any kind of announcement. On some of those hot Wrigley Field days I’d lose six or eight pounds.” As field announcer, he proclaimed the lineups, the current batter, defensive changes and so forth. He also introduced special guests and announced special events, such as births within the Cub "family."
On September 25, 1963, the retiring Stan Musial was named a Vice President of the St. Louis Cardinals just before he came to bat in the third inning at Wrigley. The next time that Musial batted, Pieper announced him with his new title. The Vice President struck out, then left the game for City Hall to be made an honorary citizen of Chicago.
Pieper's signature phrase at the beginning of each game was, "Attention! ... Attention, please! ... Have your pencil ... and scorecards ready ... and I'll give you... the correct lineup ... for today's ball game. The batt'ry ... for the ... ... and ." He also would announce, "Play ball!" at the start of the game.
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