Legendary Dodgers’ broadcaster Vin Scully dies at 94

by Seth Udinski

Seth Udinski, FISM News

 

Major League Baseball lost one of its most legendary figures in history on Tuesday, as longtime Dodgers’ broadcaster Vin Scully passed away at the age of 94.

The team said Scully passed at his home in Los Angeles.

Dodgers’ president and CEO Stan Kasten said, “We have lost an icon. 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 as well.

“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.”

Fans remember Scully as perhaps the most influential broadcaster in the history of the game. Indeed, no other announcer called more iconic games than Scully did in his 67-year career behind the microphone.

Beginning in 1950, he was the voice of his hometown Dodgers, back when they played in Brooklyn. He called the team’s first world championship in 1955, led by the likes of Duke Snyder, Jackie Robinson, and Roy Campanella. He traveled with the team when they moved to Los Angeles in 1958, and his voice became synonymous with Dodger baseball for the next 60 years. Fans would eagerly await the start of every Dodger game with Scully’s famous tagline in his Brooklyn accent: “It’s time for Dodger baseball!”

Scully called several more Dodgers’ world championships, his most famous in 1988. Fans will never forget when a wounded Kirk Gibson came to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning of game 1 of the World Series and hit a heroic walk-off home run off Dennis Eckersley to beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-4, propelling the Dodgers to a 4-1 series win.

But Scully was more than just a Dodgers icon. He called some of the most important moments in baseball history.

In 1974, Scully was at the mic when Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hit his 715th career home run to pass Babe Ruth for the all-time lead.

He also had the call for the dramatic 1986 World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets, where the Sox shockingly blew a 5-3 lead with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of game 6, culminating with the game-ending error by first baseman Bill Buckner.

Scully called countless other iconic moments in baseball, including Barry Bonds’ single season, record-breaking 73rd home run in September of 2001.

As if baseball wasn’t enough, Scully also announced some of the greatest moments in NFL history. He called the 1981 NFC Championship Game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Fransisco 49ers, where a young Joe Montana found Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone late in the 4th quarter to upset the Cowboys and kickstart the 49ers’ dynasty in the 1980s.

Scully was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

He was quoted just before his retirement in 2016, “God has been so good to me to allow me to do what I’m doing. A childhood dream that came to pass and then giving me 67 years to enjoy every minute of it. That’s a pretty large Thanksgiving day for me.”

Scully is predeceased by his first wife Joan (d. 1972), his second wife Sandra (d. 2021), and his son Michael (d. 1994). He is survived by his sons Todd and Kevin, and daughters Catherine, Kelly, and Erin.

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