Finally tonight, remembering the legendary sports broadcaster Vin
Scully. The baseball world is mourning the loss of the Hall of Fame
sportscaster who died yesterday at the age of 94. Then Scali called
games for the Dodgers for 67 years, both in Los Angeles. And when
the team was originally in Brooklyn, that is the longest tenure any
broadcaster has had with a professional team.
Many in and out of sports, said he was the best there ever was, Angeles
Mayor Eric Garcetti said. His death is the end of a chapter of our
city's history and former Dodger Steve Garvey wrote. Los Angeles
has had one clear sound. And that was the voice of Vin Scully in
2009. Jeffrey Brown had a chance to spend a day with Scully at Dodger
Stadium. We have an excerpt from that story that brings us the man,
his work and his love of the game.
Okay. It's time for Dodger baseball.
It's a voice that generations of Dodger fans have grown up with.
Savored loved.
Ground ball to third backhanded by Blake, who straightens up to throw
him out.
The inning for Randy Wolf Angeles, but also incredibly going all
the way back to Brooklyn in the 19 fifties.
The right ankle of Andres Stories. Ball one. Admittedly, there are
days. What do you think? You know, I'd rather sit under a tree and
read a book and go to the ball. Everybody has those days, right?
But what's great is you come to the park. You do the routine stop,
And then the crowd comes out
and the team takes the field.
And the crowd roars and all of a sudden you're delighted as a kid
in a candy. That's exactly where you want to be exactly. In an age
when the sports broadcast booth is crammed with two or even three
announcers, Scully still prefers to work alone.
Sanchez's strike in the council and one
style mastery of language and, yes, longevity have made him a legend
in sports circles.
It all began, he says, with lessons in attitude from his mentor,
Red Barber, another broadcasting great, who gave Scully his first
big break and brought him into the booth in Brooklyn. In 1951 of
my many jobs, as the junior partner of the broadcasting firm would
be to get the line ups every day.
And let's say that one day I brought up a lineup where Smith was
hitting in front of Brown. The next day, I brought a lineup up and
Brown was hitting in front of Smith.
Redwood asked me why
And the first time he asked me why I didn't know.
However, after that, I knew and that was part of bread. Be there
early. Be very well prepared. And then you're ready to go on the
air. Who are you talking to? When you're doing the game? I mean,
you're one of the few who still does it alone for the most part,
so
Who are you talking to? Well, first of all, I have to meet people
understand? It's not an ego thing. It's not that I just want to be
on all by myself.
This goes back to Brooklyn.
Where Reds philosophy was simply this if I want to sell you a car
Is it better for me to talk to you about the merits of the car or
talk to so and so? And have you listened to our discussion about
the merits of the car? Red always felt that it was better to talk
one on one. So what I'm doing? I'm talking to the listener and I
will talk. I'll say Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you or I forgot
to tell you exactly talking because I don't want the microphone to
be in the way. I want them to know I'm sitting next to them in the
ballpark talking.
Yankee Stadium, shivering and its concrete foundation right now.
Called the only perfect game pitched in a World Series Don Larsen's
gym for the Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956.
Nine years later, Scully was there for Sandy Koufax's perfect game,
Sandy into his wind up. Here's the pitch.
He has been so in
Possible has happened.
And then there was the famous 1988 World Series Walk off home run
by a humbled Kirk Gibson.
That crowd noise and the silence from the broadcast booth is another
Scully trademark.
When I was very small, maybe eight years old.
We had a big radio that stood on four legs and it had a cross piece
underneath it, and I used to take a pillow and crawl under the radio,
and I would listen to a game that meant nothing to a kid growing
up in New York. I mean, it might be Tennessee, Alabama. But when
someone scored a touchdown and the crowd roar
That crowd noise would come out of the speaker like water out of
the shower head and it would just cover me with goose bumps, and
I used to think. Oh, I'd like to be there to feel the roar of the
crowd and it's never left me to this day, so that when something
happens, I I love it to shut up and hear the crowd. But you're still
enjoying what you're doing. I love it. And you know how I know I
love it.
Because when there's a great play on the field, and the crowd roars,
I still get goose bumps. Just like that little kid under the radio
loaded sixth inning, one out
to left field down the line.
Slam home run.
What a life and Vin Scully died at his home in California, San Fernando
Valley on Tuesday during his career he called 25 World Series a dozen
All Star Games, three perfect games, meaning no one gets on base