August 03, 2022

Vin Scully, Forever the Voice of the Dodgers, Dies: Vin Scully, who died Tuesday at age 94, had a career as a baseball announcer for which the term legendary hardly does justice. He joined the Dodgers broadcast booth in 1950 when they were still in Brooklyn and stepped away from the mic 67 seasons later. Not bad for a kid from The Bronx who grew up rooting for the Dodgers' cross-town rival New York Giants. "It may sound corny,” Sandy Koufax once said, “but I enjoyed listening to Vin call a game almost more than playing in them.”

posted by rcade to baseball at 09:50 AM - 3 comments

In my opinion, the best ever to do the job.

posted by tommybiden at 02:55 PM on August 03, 2022

There have been many voices in many styles in many sports, some stand out for their unique style, some for their knowledge of the game they describe, and some are noteworthy for consistently poor performance. Out of this cacophony a few voices resound clearly, and the clearest of all belongs to Vin Scully. I looked at his Wikipedia page a moment ago. He was mentored by another giant, Red Barber, and those of us who are old enough would be able to recognize his voice and style immediately. RIP, Vin Scully, thanks to modern technology your voice will live forever.

posted by Howard_T at 03:01 PM on August 03, 2022

I was sad to see him end his career, but learning a little more about his personal life, I now wish for his sake that he had perhaps stepped down a bit sooner.

My first introduction to Vin Scully was as a daytime TV game show host when I was a kid. He was lively and entertaining. I had no idea who he was or where he came from. I figured he was another product pitch man and "TV personality" like Dennis James or Durward Kirby.

The game show gig didn't last all that long. Then a few years later, the same Vin Scully began appearing on national network TV calling football games. I said to myself: "Oh, he can do that too? I guess the guy must be pretty versatile."

Then he moved on to national baseball broadcasts. I thought: "Hey, this guy gets around". It took me a while to find out that baseball was his lifelong calling and that he was already considered a legend by the MLB players and fans.

posted by beaverboard at 05:53 PM on August 03, 2022

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