There have been many tributes to Vin Scully, arguably the greatest sportscaster of all-time, who passed away on August 2nd. Ken was blessed to know him and work with him for many years. In this extended episode, Ken shares his personal stories. It’s a tribute unlike any other.
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Great episode.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about how something can just hit you emotionally, much to your surprise after someone passes, sometimes months or years later.
When Vin Scully died, I was both sad and mad. Sad for the obvious reason. Mad because I can't imagine my team's broadcasters ever saying anything stylish, quoting something from Bartlett's or being effortlessly creative. My announcers are great at being obvious or talking about what the analyst would have done in a similar situation 35 years ago. But grace? class? I cringe to think how they would have called Henry Aaron's record-breaking homerun in Atlanta. And I don't think they are unique in modern baseball.
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You could write an encyclopedia on how much baseball changed from the day Scully started until the days that he left the mike.
ReplyDeleteWhat is amazing is that Scully never went on autopilot. I mean decades and decades of games everyday, how did he do it?
I met the late Dave Niehaus once and he was very gracious. I asked how he could do games, daily when the team (the Mariners) were not winning.
He said every baseball game has something that he hadn't seen before.
Thank you for this wonderful remembrance. About 15 years ago, my son and I were on a Spirit Air flight which had live baseball radio as inflight entertainment. I told him to listen to the Dodger game for the 3 innings Vin was on. After he took off the earphones, my son said, with awe, "It's like hearing Joseph Conrad call a ball game."
ReplyDeleteOf all the remarkable things about Vin, the one I keep going back to is that even during his 67th season, he was still better than anyone else at calling a game. The last few years were not a victory lap or a sop to a old guy they couldn't fire and wouldn't leave. Vin was excellent to the last.
Thank you Ken for this podcast. It meant so much to me to hear about your experiences with Scully. And you reminded me of some of the things I used to enjoy so much that others had neglected to mention, including his ability to read lips. "And (pause), ballll-derdash says Lasorda..."
ReplyDeleteKen, you know I'm not exactly an apple polisher, but this honestly should be eligible for a Peabody. Heartfelt and far more organized than it had any right to be. And some information about a man whose life has been examined by every sportswriter in the past weeks than can be found nowhere else. I hope his family enjoys it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the remembrance of Vin Scully. Like you, I got to meet someone whose work I admire and even though I didn't greet them as someone in the same field, I DID make him laugh.
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