Hill & Lake Press photographer Tim Sheridan, a resident of Cedar-Isles-Dean, spent the month of March doing something he's done for the past forty years — announcing baseball games for the Chicago Cubs.
Sheridan landed the position as the Cubs’ spring training public address announcer in Mesa, Arizona while still in college in 1983. According to Tim, "It's hard to believe this is my fortieth consecutive season. It's like I went on spring break one semester and somehow got to keep going every year since."
A Minneapolis native, Tim was raised to be a Twins fan, but his family moved to Arizona during his high school years. It was while he was attending college in Arizona that a professor posed the question to his broadcasting class that changed his life: "Who wants to help out at Cubs’ spring training?"
A quick hand raise resulted in Tim landing at the Cubs’ old spring training venue in Hohokam Park, Arizona in 1984. That was a momentous season for the Cubs, reaching the postseason for the first time since 1945.
As Tim describes, "Arizona didn't have a Major League team back then and while I was certainly still a Twins fan, getting to sit next to Cubs’ legendary broadcaster Harry Caray that first spring and then being able to watch the Cubs afternoon games on cable WGN TV, cemented me as a Cubs fan forevermore."
Tim recounts a unique experience as a young P.A. announcer: "One of my duties was to introduce and then hand my microphone to Harry Caray to sing the 7th inning stretch. Back then, the Cubs only broadcast about six TV games a spring. So, when Harry wasn't announcing, like many fans, he sat in the stands and enjoyed some beers. After seven innings of sun and brew, Harry would make his way up to the press box to sing 'Take Me Out To The Ball Game.' Putting it nicely, that often proved adventurous."
The Cubs position also helped Tim live out some of his childhood Minnesota Twins dreams, such as interviewing Kirby Puckett, talking hitting techniques with Rod Carew, hanging out with Dave Winfield, and playing baseball for a team managed by Harmon Killebrew.
Other highlights include meeting singing cowboy and former Angels owner Gene Autry, palling with actor Bill Murray, singing along with Pearl Jam front man and Cubs fan Eddie Vedder, and holding Cubs pitching legend Fergie Jenkin's Medal of Canada in his hands.
Asked to pinpoint one special moment in his spring training years, Tim pronounced, "Honestly, I love baseball, but it’s really the people I’ve met during my four decades that have made it special and I'm talking about fans and co-workers who have become good friends. A Cubs buddy of mine proposed to his girlfriend on my P.A. mic about thirty years ago, they are married with four amazing kids. Those are truly special moments!"
The Cubs have recognized Tim's service, giving him the opportunity to announce the Twins vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field on September 22, 2021. The Cubs also presented him with a World Series ring after their historic 2016 World Series Championship.
Reflecting back, Tim says, "It's been one heck of an annual spring break."
