Vin Scully
1927-2022
The Departure Lounge is filling way too rapidly these days as giants are leaving us, and today we learned of the death of Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play announcer Vin Scully at the age of 94. Scully, of course, was far more than just another play-by-play guy. He was universally regarded as the best in the business, if not the best of all time. He began his career as the second guy in the booth with Red Barber doing Brooklyn Dodger games in 1950 at the age of 22. Somewhere, there is a recording of Scully calling Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world" playoff winning home run in 1951. It is a lot more professional and understated than the Russ Hodges' "the Giants win the pennant" call that you always hear. Scully manned the Dodgers mic until he retired at the end of the 2016 season.
His skill and professionalism led him to network jobs at both CBS and NBC doing baseball Games of the Week, NFL football, and professional golf. That is probably how most of the country, including Yours Truly, become most familiar with his work, but I can remember back in the early 2000's when I got an XM Satellite Radio, and I actually heard Scully doing Dodger games on the radio for the "local" audience. He worked alone, no color analyst, and listening to him was a revelation. I always knew that he was good, but for the first time I actually realized just how Capital G Great he was at his craft.
Just last week, I stumbled up a posting of the entire Kirk Gibson at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. You all know the story: Dodgers down by two runs, two outs, two men on base, and nearly crippled Gibson is sent to pinch hit on two knees so bad that it hurt to watch him walk. Gibson works a 3-2 count on Dennis Eckersly and then launches a walkoff home run deep into the Dodger Stadium right field bleachers. It is one of the most famous home runs in all of baseball history. Scully calls the home run and then - SILENCE. Scully remained silent for over sixty seconds and let the pictures - Gibson hobbling around the bases, Dodger players rushing the field, the stunned Oakland A's walking off the field, and the sheer euphoria of the crowd - tell the story. Can you imagine Greg Brown doing that? Or Joe Buck? When he did speak again, it was with the classic: "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened."
Similarly, Scully's call of the bottom of the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax' perfect game in 1966 is also a classic. A transcript of that broadcast has been anthologized an many baseball books, and I am sure that it can be found online in any number of places. It is worth seeking out.
And then there was his call of the Bill Buckner error that ended Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. And Don Larsen's perfect game, and Hank Aaron's 715th home run, and, well, you get the idea. When it comes to baseball broadcasters, there was Vin Scully, and then there was everyone else.
RIP Vin Scully.
A far better Appreciation for Scully from the Washington Post's Dave Sheinin can be found HERE.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
2016
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