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Retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully speaks during a pregame ceremony honoring Spanish-language broadcaster Jaime Jarrin at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Sept. 2, 2018. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

Remembering The ‘Voice Of The Dodgers’ Vin Scully

Longtime Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play broadcaster Vin Scully died Tuesday night at the age of 94.

“We have lost an icon,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. “Vin Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant of a man, not only as a broadcaster, but as a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers. And he loved his family. His voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever. I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time. Vin will be truly missed.”

The hall of fame broadcaster provided the soundtrack for Dodgers fans in Brooklyn and Los Angeles during his 67-year tenure as the voice of the Major League Team, eventually serving as the longest-tenured broadcaster with a single team in professional sports history.

“A legend has left us,” reflected KHTS owner Carl Goldman. “KHTS carried Scully’s broadcasts of Dodger games for decades. His play-by-play was magic. He could paint a picture for our radio audience like no other and the ratings showed it. Dodger radio broadcasts were consistently the highest radio baseball broadcast throughout the country when “Vinny” was behind the mic. I had the fortune to shake his hand on several occasions. He was the definition of a class act.”

Touted as the “voice of the Dodgers,” Scully also called play-by-play for NFL games and PGA Tour events as well as calling 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games. He was NBC’s lead baseball announcer from 1983 to 1989.

“One of the best stories that illustrates why Vin Scully was such a class act was shared to me by the official Dodger historian,” reflected Goldman. “When Vinny was still in college, he was the broadcaster for the Fordham University football games. Back then radio was the way people heard sports, television was still in its infancy. Fordham happened to appear in the national championship that year, to the surprise of everyone. The Dodger radio network had the rights to the Fordham games, and decided they would broadcast the championship game from Fenway Park in Boston.”

“Red Barber, who was a broadcasting legend was head of the Dodger broadcast network, and also an announcer for the Dodgers. He sent Vin Scully along with an engineer up to Fenway Park to broadcast the game. When Scully arrived, they discovered that all the press boxes were filled and there was no room for him to broadcast. He and the engineer decided to rig up a wire all the way to the roof of Fenway Park, and Vinny climbed up and broadcast the entire game from the roof while a light rain fell throughout the game. He broadcast the game without a flaw. When he returned, Red Barber asked him how he did and Vinny said everything went fine, not mentioning what had happened. Days later, Red Barber discovered what happened with the game in Fenway Park and was so impressed with Vinny not even mentioning that he was having to broadcast under those dire circumstances, he hired Vinny permanently, and that’s how Vinny became a legendary Dodger broadcaster.

Scully started his career in 1949 after graduating from Fordham University, joining the Dodgers radio and television booths in the 1950 season, when the team was still housed in Brooklyn. Scully moved with the Dodgers in 1958 to Los Angeles, and remained until his retirement in 2016.

“When Vin Scully was ready to retire, he returned to Fenway Park for a game that the Dodgers played against the Red Sox. He was asked about his first broadcast from there and decided, even though he was quite on in years, that he wanted to see the roof of the stadium,  so he, along with a number of other officials, climbed up to the roof of the stadium and then reflected about his first broadcast there for the Fordham game,” Goldman said. 


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Remembering The ‘Voice Of The Dodgers’ Vin Scully

One comment

  1. Vin Scully was a truly great man! Not only a talented broadcaster, he was a gentleman and a warm and humble person. During my son Michael’s battle with brain cancer as a young boy, he treated him to a private tour of Dodger Stadium. After that, whenever we attended Dodger games, Vin would welcome Michael into the broadcaster’s booth for a quick greeting and a gift. As Michael’s condition declined we would lay in bed at home together listening to Vin’s radio simulcast on a baseball-replica radio that he gave to Michael as one of those gifts. Rest in peace, Vin. You entertained and inspired so many of us. We remember you and your talent fondly and will carry those memories throughout our lives.

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