THIS IS A MOMENT THAT I HAVE DREADED FOR A WHILE
The last time I posted anything sports-minded on this blog was when I wrote about someone who was a sports anomaly in that while the vast majority of African Americans are fans of football and basketball and prefer playing those two sports,
That someone I wrote about was an African American who preferred baseball and softball as his favorite sports to play and watch (along with college football).
The someone I was writing about?
Me.
So it’s been four months since I wrote on anything to do with sports here.
Being that this great man was in his mid-nineties, to be honest I knew that his passing would be sooner rather than later.
That doesn’t make the news of his death last night (as of this writing) any less sad, however.
Quite simply and bluntly,
VINCENT EDWARD SCULLY WAS THE GREATEST SPORTSCASTER IN ALL OF HISTORY.
PERIOD.
AND WHOEVER IS SECOND IS A VERY, VERY, VERY DISTANT SECOND.
Because of that,
Plus the fact that my admiration of him, along with my being a fan of the Dodgers in general, was passed down from my grandparents as was the case of countless other families who followed the Dodgers,
It’s the biggest no-brainer of all time that I honor this great man, who covered Dodger games for SIXTY-SEVEN YEARS and along with Sandy Koufax and Carl Erskine was the Dodgers’ last link to their Brooklyn and Ebbets Field days, on this blog.
I had one very brief encounter with Vin Scully in 2009, when there was a salute to him and other Southern California-based baseball legends at a function which I had the pleasure to attend as a member of the UCLA Alumni Band, who provided the entertainment for the occasion.
As the band and I were playing after various speeches by Vin and other luminaries like Tommy Lasorda (RIP) and Don Newcombe (whose autograph I got and whose hand I shook – again, RIP), I very briefly got Vin’s attention was able to say a brief hello to the man as he was leaving the premises.
In the grand scheme of things, that encounter was admittedly not much.
But it was better than no encounter at all.
Much better.
My earliest memories of Scully was when I was a young kid living with my grandparents in Riverside in the 1970s;
Every Sunday in March I would watch Vin announce Dodger spring training games from Vero Beach, FL on KTTV Channel 11.
Then when the season started, since the home games from Dodger Stadium weren’t shown on TV in those days,
If I wanted to see the man rather than merely listen to him on the radio – KABC AM 790 to be precise – I would have to wait for the Dodgers to be on the road at places like Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the Astrodome in Houston, and Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego to watch Vin do his thing on (again) KTTV Channel 11.
Not to say that listening to him on my green box radio while laying on my bed wasn’t great, because it certainly was.
It was likewise great when Vin got to do NBC’s Game of the Week on Saturdays with Joe Garagiola in the 1980s, along with the World Series in even numbered years during that decade;
Everybody knows his description of the ball going through the Boston Red Sox’ Bill Buckner’s legs, which led the New York Mets to an incredible Game 6 win in the 1986 World Series.
And everybody – especially everybody who’s a Dodger fan in and out of the greater Los Angeles area – really knows his description of what Kirk Gibson did to beat the Oakland A’s in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series in what is one of the greatest home runs in baseball history if not the greatest.
I was – of all places – in a hotel room in OAKLAND at that seminal moment with a bunch of my fellow members of the UCLA Marching Band; our Bruin football team had just beaten Cal in Berkeley earlier that day, and we were obviously shocked at what transpired almost 400 miles south.
More than anything else…
Vin Scully, through his immaculate broadcasting, storytelling, and description of the action before him at Dodger games in particular,
Was responsible for Los Angeles becoming a major professional sports town.
Simply put, the Los Angeles Dodgers would have not become the Los Angeles Dodgers without him.
Now that his passing has sadly come to pass,
Besides my guess that God told him these three words upon entering the gates of Heaven,
“Well done. Welcome,”
All that is left for me to say is…
MAY YOU REST IN BOTH PEACE AND PARADISE, VINCENT EDWARD SCULLY.
BE SURE TO GIVE JACKIE ROBINSON, ROY CAMPANELLA, TOMMY LASORDA, AND ALL THE OTHER BASEBALL AND SPORTS LEGENDS WHO I’M SURE YOU’RE HAVING QUITE THE ENJOYABLE REUNION WITH RIGHT NOW.
ALONG WITH YOUR WIFE, SANDY, AND YOUR SON, MICHAEL.
TO SAY THAT YOU WILL BE MISSED ON AN EXTREMELY PRONOUNCED SCALE IS BOTH PAINFULLY OBVIOUS AND SHOULD GO WITHOUT SAYING.
hartlandchronicles 