Thank You, Vin!

Vin’s call of Henry Aaron’s 715th home run tells so much about him. He called the historic homer, then went quiet (and apparently walked to the back of the radio booth to drink water). On air there was simply the roar of the crowd. This goes on for 4 minutes or so before Vin returns to frame the moment in history (“a crowd in the deep South is giving a standing ovation to a black man who just beat the record of an all time baseball idol…”).

Of course, Aaron had been receiving death threats.

Vin had been there from the time of Jackie Robinson’s first game to what he witnessed on that April night in Atlanta in 1974. He knew that baseball was more than just a game and he clearly cared deeply about issues of civil rights and human dignity, And, he did not step all over the moment by telling his radio listeners what was happening, he let the roar of the crowd do so and then framed the moment into history. I know nothing of Vin’s politics, I just know that he cared about this country and its ideals and used the best moments of baseball to highlight these ideals.

Vince was the single greatest sports announcer of all time. He covered 5 different sports and was considered the best in 3 of them, now that is something to behold.

In the 1958 and 1959, late fifties, we did not really known baseball except in the two Hearst newspapers or in the LA Times, and in the regional papers in Long Beach, the OC, the SFV, or the So.Bay, and then it was because of the box scores. When in 1959 the Dodgers beat the White Sox for the World Series the game in Southern California really took off. All of the SoCal newspapers then assigned writers to cover the Dodgers. Vince was already a household name by the time the Dodgers swept the Yankees in ’63. For those of us, and there were not as many at first, who were Angels fans, Vince Scully never said one thing bad about the other team that shared Dodger Stadium. He always gave our score first when he told us of the American League scores, whether we were on the road or not and told us who won, hit a HR, etc.

Listening to the Dodgers was inescapable as the local strip mall’s Italian Pizza place had the game on along with the local corner market, Liquor Store, Drug Store, Gas Stations, 7-11 or Stop and Go or Circle K. It didn’t matter if it was a day game in some far-off city back east or a home game here in Southern California, Vince Scully was everywhere. Rush hour on the frwy back then, everybody had their windows down and the game on and you could hear Vinny. If you went to a hamburger stand back in the day everyone sat outside and the transistor radios didn’t have KFWB or KRLA on in the summer when the Dodgers were playing, they had Vinny on 50,000-watt KFI tuned in loud and clear. While Southern California did not invent radios in the car, it sure was embraced the most here more than anywhere in the country.

Why do we always have the highest geographical area baseball attendance, our roots go all the way back to when O’Malley brought the Dodgers and Vinny to us in the Southland. Kids baseball leagues flourished, Little League, American Assoc., Pony Baseball and Leagues in communities that popped up all over. High School Baseball took off in the late sixties and never looked back. Why? Vince Scully was teaching all of us about the game.

There can never be another Vince Scully, the greatest conquered the biggest and best area in the United States and in the 1970’s we had to share him with the rest of the country, who bte are just like us in considering him the greatest ever. When as a young man starting out in my chosen profession, I used to have to put my radio up in the second story apt. bathroom window to receive KFI in Lompoc Ca. as that was the only way to hear Vinny. Funny stuff sitting there on the toilet seat listening to games.

Growing up holds a lot of fond memories for me for sure, as it does for all of us, glad we all have one in common.

Only two things I like about the Dodgers

Vin Scully and Tommy Lasorda

Ran into them at the Riviera in the 90’s.

They couldn’t have been more gracious.

well said, Jeff

late 60s in Glendora i found an old transistor radio and began listening to Vin and Dick Enberg – that’s really the genesis of falling for this game –

my BIG BANG – the origin; when I first started to get interested in the game

and it takes me directly to backyard wiffle ball mostly

and on and on

for years when the Dodgers played the Angels especially lately, i’d listen to Vin

I have a memory of picking my dad up at LAX with my grandparents as he was coming home from deployment, with Vin on the radio for those first few innings.

Countless other parties and beach days he’d be in the background.

The soundtrack to our lives for those that grew up in SoCal.

What a kind man he was. We will miss him.

Fitting that he have his own post/thread. Well said JJ. My favorite was him and Bob miller coming together for the stadium series game kings v ducks at doyer stadium. What a fun event and experience to cap all the baseball moments he provided.

The best I ever heard and likely will ever hear. A link between a bygone era and modern baseball. I hated the Dodgers but loved Vinny. The way he could spin a story and make you feel like he was telling it to you personally, sitting on his porch drinking lemonade. There was no flash, no attention grabbing. Just a kind man watching and describing a baseball game to you.

Growing up, many many years ago, in Hesperia, my parents loved to listen to baseball on the radio or have it on the TV. I, like most, can still clearly hear Vin Scully’s voice in my head. I myself have never really been a Dodgers fan, but I sure was during the 1981 WS as I listened to Scully call that great series against the Yankees.