GO Getter: Mike Lindskog

The announcer for the Springfield Cardinals wants to show you his lizard

Mike Lindskog might be the most loved and most reviled man in Springfield, and not only because he brings you every Springfield Cardinals win or loss live on Jock 98.7 FM. Many of us would kill—or at least maim—to have Mike’s job. But put those baseball bats away! You might want to get to know the 33-year-old, iguana-owning announcer before you start plotting your attack.

How long have you been broadcasting?
Believe it or not, this is my 15th year in minor league baseball. I started in [my hometown of] Spokane, Washington, as a game day employee for the Spokane Indians…Then I moved down to California to do play-by-play for a team [in High Desert]. Then I moved to Texas and spent 12 years there.

So you did play-by-play for El Paso, the team that technically became the Springfield Cardinals?
I always make the joke that I was a part of that deal. They said ‘We’ll throw in the radio broadcaster, a bucket of balls and a couple of jock straps…’

What organizations have you worked in besides the Cardinals and the Diamondbacks [El Paso Diablos]?
I worked for a Kansas City Royals affiliate in Spokane, then in High Desert, where we were always Milwaukee, which was bad. One year we were 42-98, the worst record in the entire nation. That was the one year that really tested me as a broadcaster. If you can make 42-98 sound interesting, hopefully you can make anything sound interesting.

You guys have some long road trips. What do you do on the bus?
The buses have improved. You’d be lucky to get a bus with a bathroom back in the day…but it’s still a bus. It’s tough, the travel schedule. Midland, San Antonio and Corpus Christi [all Texas] are all 12-13 hours, and it’s not like you get out of the bus in Midland saying “Oh thank god we’re here.’ I joke around that Midland is the entertainment Mecca of West Texas. It’s horrible.

Best travel city?
San Antonio is awesome because of the Riverwalk; Tulsa is an average hotel, but there’s a bar in the hotel parking lot that makes it a lot of fun.

In-booth highlight?
The St. Louis games [to kick off the 2005 season]. I’d never broadcast a major league game, so to be able to call Albert Pujols’s home run, and Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen coming up to bat, it doesn’t get better than that. The energy in the ballpark was second to none.

How do you take care of your voice?
I’m a big water guy. I don’t eat certain things before I go on the air—mayonnaises and creamy stuff like that…milk. When you go out in the evenings you gotta stay away from smoky venues. The smoke really bothers me a lot.

Any sense that this is the minor leagues for St. Louis not only on the field, but in the broadcast booth, too?
Definitely. My ultimate goal is to get to the big leagues. If I have to hold [St. Louis play-by-play announcer] Mike Shannon’s bags and carry his stuff around in order to do it, so be it.

Do you have any signature calls?
Oh, I do. I get a little crazy. This is definitely the one: A Cardinal victory that ends with a defensive play, when the pitcher’s on the field, is “Shut the door baby, don’t say a word.” We’re trying to take that one all the way.

Tell me about your family.
I have a wife, Christy. We’ve been married for seven years. She’s been a good sport [with my job]. Then I have my iguana, Bandito. She is a member of the family. I’ve had her for longer than I’ve known my wife—over 10 years.