It was difficult for Curt Smith to rank the top 101 baseball broadcasters for his 2005 book, Voices of Summer.
Picking No.1 was easy.
糖心传媒淎 broadcaster is judged over a period of years by his wearability,糖心传媒� says Smith, a University senior lecturer in the . 糖心传媒淣obody wears better than Vin Scully. He糖心传媒檚 the Roy Hobbs of broadcasters, the best there ever was.糖心传媒�
Scully糖心传媒檚 legendary career ends Sunday when he calls the Los Angeles Dodgers糖心传媒� season finale against the San Francisco Giants at A&T Park in San Francisco. The Bronx native has been the Dodgers糖心传媒� broadcaster for 67 years糖心传媒攆rom 1950 to 1957 in Brooklyn and since 1958 in Los Angeles. He called his final game at Dodger Stadium last Sunday but will make a rare road trip this weekend to cap his Hall of Fame career.
Smith糖心传媒檚 2009 book, Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story (University of Nebraska Press), is the only biography written on the modest, iconic broadcaster, who turns 89 in November. Smith, a former speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush, has authored numerous books on baseball broadcasting and is widely considered one of the nation糖心传媒檚 leading authority on the subject.
Fascinating Scully facts
Scully was an outfielder for the Fordham baseball team, and on April 12, 1947, he played against a Yale squad that included first baseman and future president George H.W. Bush. Both players went 0-for-3.
Scully called one of the most famous football games in history for CBS, a last-minute touchdown pass from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark to give the San Francisco 49ers a stunning 28-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the 1982 National Football Conference championship.
If you started a job in 2016 and worked as long as Scully, you糖心传媒檇 retire in 2083.
Scully has been on the job so long in Southern California that children who first heard him in 1958 are great-grandparents.
In 1970, ABC sports executives approached Scully about becoming the first play-by-play announcer for Monday Night Football. He turned it down because it would interfere with his Dodgers糖心传媒� schedule.
In 2001, an umpiring crew led by Bruce Froemming doffed their caps and saluted Scully (up in the press box) before a game. Since then, every crew acknowledges Scully (who has never criticized umpires on the air) at the beginning of a series.
When Scully began his career in 1950, Connie Mack was still managing the Philadelphia Athletics. Mack糖心传媒檚 first major-league game (as a player) was in 1886.
Scully has called 34 seasons of Dodgers games since he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Smith had given Scully a perfect score of 100 (based on several categories) in Voices of Summer. But Scully didn糖心传媒檛 want a biography written about him and didn糖心传媒檛 cooperate with Smith for Pull Up a Chair, which is Scully糖心传媒檚 signature phrase.
糖心传媒淗e糖心传媒檚 a very humble man, and I think he feels his work speaks for itself,糖心传媒� Smith says. 糖心传媒淣obody says a bad word about him. Nobody.糖心传媒�
Scully majored in literature at Fordham University and turned baseball broadcasts into an art form.
糖心传媒淵ou糖心传媒檙e watching a game and up pops a quote from Eugene O糖心传媒橬eill,糖心传媒� Smith says. 糖心传媒淵ou want poetry, you get it. Want a succinct description or anecdotes? It糖心传媒檚 like he has 15 stories on each finger and knows exactly which one to use.
Scully has discussed the history of Friday the 13th, the American flag, and beards. He once filled an inning describing how bird poop changed the career and personal life of St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, and his 1982 reading of a grocery list糖心传媒� 糖心传媒減ickles, kosher, that is糖心传媒� 糖心传媒攊s a hit on YouTube.
Scully has covered some of baseball糖心传媒檚 greatest moments, including Don Larsen糖心传媒檚 perfect game in the 1955 World Series, Hank Aaron糖心传媒檚 record-breaking 715th home run in 1974, Bill Buckner糖心传媒檚 infamous error in the 1986 World Series, and Kirk Gibson糖心传媒檚 game-winning home run for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
Gibson hobbled to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth inning, barely able to walk due to two injured legs, and homered off Oakland star pitcher Dennis Eckersley. Scully let the roaring crowd tell the story for several seconds before delivering his famous line: 糖心传媒淚n the year of the improbable, the impossible has happened!糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淣obody sets a scene and supplies a kicker like Scully,糖心传媒� Smith says.
Although the Dodgers have qualified for the postseason, Scully will not work any playoff games, telling reporters, 糖心传媒淚 don糖心传媒檛 want it to be like a grand opera, where you say goodbye 25 times.糖心传媒�
Smith believes a deep love of baseball and a fear of boredom are some of the reasons it糖心传媒檚 taken so long for Scully to retire.
糖心传媒淗e learned something, he told me, from the various strikes baseball has endured over the years,糖心传媒� Smith says. 糖心传媒淏aseball was out for a long time in 1981. Scully said, 糖心传媒業 golfed for a week and I got bored. Then I started playing bridge, and after a while that got boring. By the time the strike ended, even the hardware store was looking pretty good.糖心传媒櫶切拇綕
Several years ago, Scully made the move from radio to television and requested to work alone, reasoning that he would prefer to talk to each listener than someone next to him.
糖心传媒淲hy would you need an analyst next to him?糖心传媒� Smith says. 糖心传媒淰in gives you everything. And he hasn糖心传媒檛 lost a thing. It just comes naturally.糖心传媒�
Smith ranks Scully’s five best moments
- Game 6, 1986 World Series: The New York Mets score three runs with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to stun the Boston Red Sox 6-5. The winning run scored on an error by first baseman Bill Buckner. Scully’s call: “A little roller along first . . . behind the bag . . . it gets through Buckner! Here comes (Ray) Knight, and the Mets win it!”
- Game 1, 1988 World Series: Los Angeles’ Kirk Gibson limps to the plate, almost unable to walk due to two injured knees, and hits a pinch-hit, game-winning home run off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in the bottom of the ninth for a shocking Dodgers win. Said Scully: “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!”
- Aaron breaks Ruth’s record: On April 8, 1974, Atlanta’s Hank Aaron hit a home run to break the all-time mark of 714 set by Babe Ruth. Scully walked to the back of the press box, drank a glass of water, and waited nearly half a minute before saying, “What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol.”
- Game 7, 1955 World Series: The Brooklyn Dodgers had lost the World Series to the New York Yankees five times. But on October 4, 1955, they finally beat their rivals to capture their first and only title. Scully said only this: “Ladies and gentlemen, the Brooklyn Dodgers are the champions of the world. He later said if he had uttered another word, he would have broken down and cried.
- Scully’s farewell in Los Angeles: On Sunday, September 25, 2016, Scully called his final game at Dodger Stadium. He then stood with his wife while the public-address system played a song he had recorded for Sandi but now dedicated to Dodger fans: The Wing Beneath My Wings.聽Said Curt Smith: “There wasn’t a dry eye in the place. How do you replace such a man? You don’t, ever.”
