Remembering Vin Scully

 

Back in 1988 when I was living in Pittsburgh, I remember vividly the day Steelers owner Art Rooney died at the age of 87. It was not unexpected given Mr Rooney's age, but he was an iconic figure in Pittsburgh. All day long, the local radio stations were filled with talks about Rooney by those who knew him. He was much beloved in Pittsburgh, and I remember the discussions on the radio and TV that day as being a celebration of his life with people sharing stories about him.

Such as it is today in Los Angeles with yesterday's passing of long-time Dodgers announcer Vin Scully at the age of 94. Having grown up in Los Angeles, I am one of those lucky ones who literally grew up listening to Scully do his broadcasts of Dodgers games, both on radio and TV though I was never a Dodger fan myself. As everyone agrees, there has never been a better baseball broadcaster than Vin Scully and probably never will be. Scully not only had the voice, he was so eloquent and a gifted storyteller as well.  For 67 years he broadcast Dodger games beginning in the 1950s in Brooklyn. Think of that. That goes back to the days of Jackie Robinson.

One thing I noticed listening to Scully was that he would slightly shift his technique when doing games on TV as opposed to radio. He recognized that with TV, the announcer didn't have to talk so much as when on radio. It was also largely overlooked that he was a gifted interviewer. He asked meaningful and interesting questions of those he interviewed. In short, he mastered all the skills. I have found that when you are used to listening to a great announcer like Scully, you tend to notice the deficiencies of other announcers who pale in comparison.

But all that was only half the story. By virtually all accounts, Scully was a true gentleman, a humble and gracious man of whom nobody had a bad word to say. All too often in the sports world we have had to share praise about the greatness of our sports figures with the knowledge that in many cases, they are jerks in private life. Not so with Vin Scully. No, I never knew him, never met him, but like all Angelinos I feel like I have lost a long-time friend.