SPORTSCASTER, BROOKLYN & LOS ANGELES DODGERS
The phrase ‘So-and-so is the Michael Jordan of…’ is often used to describe someone’s excellence at their chosen profession. Tiger Woods is the Michael Jordan of golf. Dave Chapelle is the Michael Jordan of comedy. I’d argue that Michael Jordan was ‘the Vin Scully of basketball’. That’s how good Vin Scully was.
Vin Scully was a broadcaster and play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for 66 years, until the age of 88. You read that right… he was with the team BEFORE they moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. In fact, the only person associated with that team that logged more years was Tommy Lasorda, who was affiliated with the Dodgers 2 years longer than Mr. Scully.
He’s easily the longest tenured broadcaster in sports history, as well as being the YOUNGEST person to broadcast a World Series, a record that still stands. He is the author of some of the greatest sports announcement moments of all time. I can still remember watching Kirk Gibson’s infamous World Series home run sail into the stands in 1988 against the heavily favored Oakland Athletics, with Vin Scully declaring ‘SHE… IS… GONE!!’. He also was the announcer during Red Sox Bill Buckner’s fatal error late in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series against the New York Mets. The fact that he did it for so long and so well is a testament to who he was.
Whereas baseball was obviously his passion and home, Vin Scully was the lead announcer at CBS and NBC for years, covering anything from golf to football to tennis. The final football game he announced was “The Catch” game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys. However, he almost continued his football work as a partner to John Madden, a job that eventually went to Pat Summerall. Can you imagine the pairing of Vin Scully and John Madden? What a contrast in styles. I would have liked to experience that.
Vin Scully retired in 2016, and the following year the Dodgers made it to the World Series for the first time in 29 years. Everybody, from the current broadcasters to the team managers to public opinion wanted Vin to come out of retirement to announce the World Series. He respectfully declined, stating ‘I’ve done plenty of them’. Vin Scully passed away in 2022 at the age of 94. He had announced sports events played by Mickey Mantle, OJ Simpson, Joe Montana, Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds, and countless others. He set the broadcasting bar high, and dozens of his famous calls are immortalized in sports lore.