The Voice of Dodger Baseball

The Blessed Career of Vin Scully

BY CARTER BROOKS

It's time for Dodger baseball! Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be

On October 2nd, 2016, Vin Scully ended his baseball play-by-play career as the consensus number one commentator in Major League Baseball history. According to an online fan vote, Scully beat out names such as Bob Uecker, Harry Caray, Jack Buck and Ernie Harwell. His 67-year tenure with the Los Angeles Dodgers is the longest career of any broadcaster with a single team in all of professional sports.

Easily recognized for his soft, yet illustrative play calling, Scully has worked his way into the hearts of many North American baseball fans. His trademark pre-game welcome, "It's time for Dodger baseball! Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be" in which he begins every broadcast with, has encapsulated Dodger nation for countless decades.

Through retirement—at the age of 88—Scully walked away from the game of baseball as a well-travelled lifelong fan, a true gentleman, and a Christian.

Growing up in The Bronx, Scully realized his affinity for the game of baseball while walking by a laundromat one October evening. It was out of the corner of his eye that he caught the lopsided score of the second game of the 1936 World Series, featuring the dominant New York Yankees and the lowly San Francisco Giants. It was then, right there, standing outside the local laundry shop that eight-year-old Vin Scully decided that he would pursue a career announcing baseball.

A handful of years later, following a brief stint in the military, Scully went off to broadcasting school to begin the pursuit of his childhood dream. It didn’t take long for the young New Yorker to land his first gig in the majors. 1950 was Scully’s first year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and 1953 was his first World Series broadcast. Scully was 25 at the time—a record that still stands to this day.

Scully called his final game in early October of 2016. Fittingly, it was against those same San Francisco Giants who had tugged at his heartstrings in 1936 at the laudromat—exactly 80 years prior, to the day.

Following his final broadcast, Scully offered a goodbye message and prayer to his listening audience, speaking of God’s many gifts for every circumstance.

In October of 2013, Scully spoke with the National Catholic Register about his life and his reliance on faith and the church.

“I feel a tremendous degree of comfort in the Catholic Church,” Scully said. “It’s where I’ve grown up and where I’ve had the most important moments of my life. I’ve benefitted from the dedication of the nuns in grammar school, the reception of the sacraments and a rich tradition of prayer that you can take with you no matter where you are.”

The most significant lesson that Scully learned from his Christian upbringing is one that he has been able to carry with him every day.

“There are so many good things about the Church,” he reflected. “But the most essential thing that I’ve learned from it is the importance of continual communication with God. That’s what all the kneelers, candles, incense, stained-glass windows, holy water and other things are about: directing our minds and hearts to God.”

Scully was featured as the recipient of the Icon Award at the 2017 ESPY Award Show in Los Angeles in early July. And in typical Vin Scully fashion, he began his acceptance speech with a line he had been practicing for upwards of 65 years, “Hi everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you.”

Although stirring up the emotions in the crowd with his trademarked line, it didn’t take long for the 88-year-old to remind the crowd of his important lesson from church. Scully went on to speak of his career as a broadcaster, and what God has been able to do for him, through the support he has received.

In a day and age where nearly every sentence and word are thrown under the microscope, Scully was able to address the audience with grace and humility, showcasing exactly why he was chosen as the honourary Icon Award winner. The Icon Award recognizes a recipient whose career has left a lasting impression on the sporting world.

“God gave us memories, so we can have roses in December,” Scully said near the conclusion of his acceptance speech. “And in the December of my years, I have collected so many roses, and cherished each and every one of them. And you give me a rose tonight, to join my collection for all of those years. I am humbled, I am honoured, and I know another thing—my work was never, ever a burden. I have considered it always to be a blessing.”

Incredible words to live by, from the Icon himself, Vin Scully.

/ CARTER BROOKS is a news writer and sports columnist situated in Winnipeg, Manitoba. On top of reading and writing, coaching hockey is his favourite pastime.