How amazing it has been to grow up listing to Mr. Vince Scully, truly one of the most recognized, remarkable, and living icons in my lifetime. Indirectly, he has reconfirmed many things in my life. He has showed us the importance of longevity, being consistent and knowing your numbers. He has always had a positive outlook on every player, team, and the sport itself. I will definitely miss hearing his announcing of the Dodgers and his quick wit… God Bless you Vince and thank you for all the Great years!
BIO of Vin Scully
Vin Scully, whose status as one of the top sportscasters in history was reaffirmed recently when he was named as “baseball’s all-time best broadcaster,” is in his 59th season as the “Voice of the Dodgers.” The Hall of Famer’s 59 years of consecutive service with the Dodgers is the longest of any current sports broadcaster with one team.
In the 2005 book “Voices of Summer” by Curt Smith, Scully was named as baseball’s all-time best broadcaster based on “longevity, continuity, network coverage, kudos, language, popularity, persona, voice knowledge and miscellany.” Each criterion was rated from 1-10, with the perfect score being 100. Scully was the only broadcaster to reach that number.
Scully, whose vivid yet simplistic description of a baseball game has thrilled fans for years, joined Hall of Fame announcer Red Barber and Connie Desmond as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ broadcast team in 1950, just a year after graduating from Fordham University. Scully, who played outfield for two seasons on Fordham’s baseball team, called baseball, basketball and football games for the university’s radio station. In 1982, 32 years after he first became a Dodger broadcaster, Scully reached the pinnacle of his sparkling career in baseball when he was inducted into the Broadcaster’s wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick Award recipient.
In 2008, Scully has been recognized with several major honors:
- On March 29, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission unveiled a permanent bronze plaque in their prestigious Memorial Court of Honor at the peristyle end. The plaque, only the 53rd in history to be enshrined, reads in part, “The games are ephemeral, the scores are forgotten, the players come and go, but the emotions endure, and the contributions of Vincent Edward Scully to Los Angeles will last forever.”
- On April 6, Scully was inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame, created to honor sports heroes and highlight sports history in the Golden State.
- On April 26, he delivered the Seaver College Commencement address to the 2008 graduating class at Pepperdine University in Malibu. The stirring speech featured the theme “Very Difficult, But Possible”. Scully also received Pepperdine’s highest honor, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
- On June 13, two icons of American sport joined forces in a unique evening for the benefit of children: Scully and legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden shared the stage before a packed crowd and a live television audience at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles in a charity event called “Scully & Wooden, For the Kids.”
In 2005, USA Today ranked the Dodgers’ radio broadcast team as Major League Baseball’s best, based on a technical rating, a fan rating and an entertainment rating. Scully and his colleagues, Rick Monday and Charley Steiner, earned 28.5 points out of a possible 30.
In July 2000, Scully was elected as the top sportscaster of the 20th Century by more than 500 national members of the American Sportscasters Association. He topped such broadcasting icons as Howard Cosell, Mel Allen and others in balloting by the ASA, a non-profit organization that recognizes achievements in sports broadcasting. Also in 2000, Scully was honored by Fordham University in the Bronx, NY as he received a Doctorate of Humane Letters honorary degree and delivered the commencement speech for Fordham’s 2000 graduating class of 3,765. Upon the 60th Anniversary celebration of Fordham’s radio station, WFUV 90.7 FM, on April 29 the university honored him with the Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award in Sports Broadcasting.
On April 21, 2001, the press box at Dodger Stadium was named in Scully’s honor.
In addition to his Dodger broadcasts, the multi-talented broadcaster called play-by-play for National Football League games and PGA Tour events on CBS-TV from 1975-82 and play-by-play for Major League Baseball’s Game of the Week, three World Series and four All-Star Games on NBC-TV from 1983-89. Scully also called play-by-play for the World Series on CBS Radio from 1990-97. In all, he has called 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games.
Scully portrayed himself in “For the Love of the Game,” the 1999 Universal Pictures release starring Kevin Costner. During the 1999 World Series, Scully served as master of ceremonies at Major League Baseball’s All-Century Team unveiling at Atlanta’s Turner Field. He was also named best of the century in Los Angeles Sports broadcasting by the Long Beach Press-Telegram and the poet laureate of baseball by USA Today. He has also lended his voice to Sony Playstation’s MLB video game.
He and his wife, Sandra, reside in Los Angeles
OC Homes for Sale 