MIAMI \u2014 Michael Baiamonte is retiring. That\u2019s why \u201cMike Drop,\u201d T-shirts were common at Saturday\u2019s Miami Heat game. You may not know his name, or recognize his face, but if you\u2019ve ever been to a Heat game you\u2019ve experienced his voice.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s one of his calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cTWO MINUTES! \u2026 DOS \u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another.<\/p>\n
\u201cTOO-OOO MANY STEPS!\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s this one.<\/p>\n
\u201cTHREE-E-E-E-E!\u201d<\/p>\n
Typing these words makes them so sound flat and lifeless. Baiamonte sells each syllable to the point his public-address calls are part of the Heat game\u2019s experience since 1990. It\u2019s not a front-and-center attraction, of course.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019s the background singer who adds something to the larger song. He\u2019s delivered a series of one-act, even one-word plays at more than 1,600 Heat games. There\u2019s a story behind each call, too. Take the line he delivered at mid-court before introducing the players before Saturdays\u2019 game: \u201cSTAND UP AND MAKE SOME NOISE \u2026 FOR YOUR \u2026 MI-AMI HE-E-E-EAT!\u201d<\/p>\n
The first time Baiamonte belted that out a few decades ago no one stood up. No one made any noise. He felt totally defeated, especially since the Heat\u2019s current co-marketing director, Jeff Craney, had asked him to come up with a line to get fans going.<\/p>\n
Baiamonte had considered, \u201cGet up and get loud for your Miami Heat!\u201d Or, \u201cGet on your feet for \u2026!\u201d But he chose the stand-up-and-make-some-noise line and walking out that night felt terrible. It was a dud.<\/p>\n
Craney knew otherwise. \u201cIt\u2019s perfect, you\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
It caught on across that first season. Sure, it\u2019s a bit hokey to outsiders. But for 35 years Heat fans have stood up and made plenty of noise when Baiamonte summons them.<\/p>\n
Baiamonte, you see, shows the continuing lure of sports for those of us who quit playing games long ago. In his case, he was injured his senior basketball season at Miami Gulliver Prep. He asked to be the public-address announcer, something he always wanted to do.<\/p>\n
He then listed being the p.a. announcer on his college application to Florida International University, surely to show he was a well-rounded student. This was 1981. FIU had just become a four-year college with a basketball team. It needed a p.a. announcer. Guess who got a call to try out? And then got the job as a freshman?<\/p>\n
Baiamonte stayed behind the FIU microphone for a decade, even after he had graduated and started working or an insurance company. That FIU mike is where he created his lines of, \u201cTOO-OO MANY STEPS!\u201d for an opponent traveling, and \u201cTHREE-E-E,\u201d in that extended sing-song like the arc of a 3-point shot.<\/p>\n
Then, late in the 1990 season, the Heat came calling. There was just one issue. He was about to get married to Natalie. Their honeymoon was over several Heat home games. So, he did what any young, ambitious and not-quite-yet-happily-married announcer would.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we cut our honeymoon short?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been married 34 years, raised three grown daughters and recently became grandparents. He wants to travel without looking at a Heat schedule. That\u2019s the short answer to why he\u2019s retiring at 62.<\/p>\n
It led to more than just a Heat gig, too, his first full season being the 1991-92 campaign. He quit the insurance business in 1999 and lent his voice to hosting events and doing commercial voiceovers for big companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also became a germaphobe for fear of protecting my voice,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Baiamonte also plotted unique calls for every Heat player. So, an Alonzo Mourning dunk brought a, \u201cGood Moooourning!\u201d Shaquille O\u2019Neal\u2019s name was delivered with the distinct rumble of a Diesel, his nickname. Dwyane Wade\u2019s name was stretched like it had 100 letters. Even bit players got their due, like a Clarence Weatherspoon assist getting the call of, \u201c\u2018Spoon fed.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
His most recognized call came out of a desire inside the Heat to acknowledge the Latin fan base at games. Everyone looked at Baiamonte. The pressure was on. He already said, \u201cTWO MINUTES,\u201d at the end of every quarter per league rules.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not just say, \u2018Dos Minutos?\u2019 he said in a meeting. The was refined to where he\u2019d say, \u201cTWO MINUTES,\u201d followed by \u201cDOS \u2026\u201d and pause there. Fans would say, \u201cMINUTOS!\u201d It took a season to catch on. But now it\u2019s part of more than just a Heat game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how many parents come up and say they use it when it\u2019s time to get their kids to dinner or when it\u2019s time for bed,\u2019\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
What happens next year? That\u2019s a question as Baiamonte walks away thinking of the words of his father. He inherited his voice from Frank Baiamonte, an insurance executive and gifted public speaker. Now dad\u2019s advice sticks with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cMichael, when you find the right job with the right organization, whenever you decide to leave make sure they\u2019re cheering you out the door not chasing you.\u201d<\/p>\n
They cheered Saturday. He\u2019s not the reason fans go to the game. But over 35 years his voice was an entrenched part of the Heat experience.<\/p>\n
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