Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The longtime voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers and seemingly everyone’s grandfather, Vin Scully, died on Tuesday. He was 94 years old.
This is the saddest post I’ve ever had to write.
Scully was legendary for his work in sports broadcasting, beginning with founding the FM radio station at his alma mater Fordham University. This was after serving two years in the United States Navy. He was recruited by then-Brooklyn Dodgers’ play-by-play voice Red Barber, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Vin took over for Barber in 1954 after Barber left to broadcast for the Yankees. The year before, Scully called the World Series at the age of 26, which is still the youngest person to ever do so. Scully followed the Dodgers out to Los Angeles in 1958 and would call games through the end of the 2016 season. That’s what we know and remember him best for, but he was one of the best and most recognizable voices in sports broadcasting.
He worked for CBS Sports from 1975 through 1982, and was famously on the call of “The Catch” in the ’82 NFC Championship Game.
He worked for NBC from 1983 through 1989 as the voice of the “Saturday Game of the Week.” He also called three World Series’ in that span (1984, ’86 and ’88). His words during the call of Kirk Gibson‘s Game 1 walk-off gomer will forever be burned into my memory.
“High fly ball to right field. She. Is. Gone!”
(1-minute pause)
“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!”
That’s something Vin did better than anyone. He let the crowd noise tell the story. On TV, it’s pretty easy to do so, but it also has a significant impact when listening on the radio. He was the master of that skill.
Scully won the Ford Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995.
What he’ll most be remembered for were his stories. Vin had stories like no other. He did his homework to be made aware of said stories — anyone could have done that, honestly. The way he told the stories was unlike anyone else. You’d almost forget there was a baseball game happening the way Vin told stories.
Scully lost his wife of 48 years, Sandra, on Jan. 3, 2021, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
There will never be another like him. And he will be sorely, sorely missed. Vin is survived by his four children, two stepchildren, 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Rest in peace, Vin. You will never be forgotten. Thank you for everything.
