Vin Scully Fanpage

For 64 years, Vin Scully (b. Nov. 27, 1927) has been the broadcaster for the the Dodgers -- in Brooklyn, in Los Angeles -- for every home game, and many away games. He started his Dodger career alongside radio legend Red Barber in 1950.

Players have come and gone. Legends have played out in the storied ballparks of Ebbets Field and Dodger Stadium. One silver voice has been there to chronicle all the heartbreaks and historic moments: all of the Dodgers' World Series victories (one in Brooklyn, five in LA), Hank Aaron's 715th homer to break Babe Ruth's record, the Kirk Gibson Home Run, and Sandy Koufax's magical no-hitters and perfect game (Site: The Sounds of Baseball).

Recommended Link: Vin Scully Audio Highlights from Jackie Robinson to Kirk Gibson.

Right: Photomanip based on a Vin Scully photo by Jorge Mir, Creative Commons.

The Voice of the Dodgers Through Six Decades

If the crowd is the tenth man, then Vin Scully has been his bench coach for sixty years.

Vin Scully normally works solo, an artifact from a bygone era. Although his broadcast is now for television not radio (simulcasted on radio for the first three innings), and he no longer paints a picture with words so that his listeners can visualize every twist of the game, he still delights Dodgers fans with his verbal poetry, capturing a moment in a metaphor.

1. He's been the voice of the Dodgers for 60 years.
2. He paints a vivid picture with his voice so listeners can "see" the game.
3. He starts every broadcast with a warm, "Hello, everybody, and a very pleasant afternoon/evening to you, wherever you may be."
4. He teaches you baseball history and makes it FUN.
5. He's incredibly humble, insisting that other announcers equally deserve the accolades he receives.
6. He's delighted by any good play and gives a balanced assessment of every player and team; he's not a "homer" like so many modern broadcasters.
7. "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened." ~ Vin Scully after Gibson Home Run
8. He still sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with gusto, every game.
9. He doesn't talk to a color guy. He talks to YOU.
10. "And now, it's time for... Dodger Baseball!"

Behold the power of Vin Scully!

Aug 2, 2012: Vin doesn't really understand Twitter and isn't even on it, but at a word, he can get an obscure player trending. Screencap of Twitter which I took during tonight's game:

(See "The Power of Scully": funny MLB video clip of Vin's broadcast which set this off.)

Collected by fans during broadcasts

For some years, Dodgers fans have been collecting "Vin Scullyisms". Here is a list of some of the best Vin Scully from that thread -- actually, crzblue lifted that list from an earlier version of MY page, heh.

And here's a few I've transcribed myself while listening to broadcasts:

"Bud Black is out to argue and to calm down his pitcher. The Dodgers have already stolen his wallet and are working on his watch."

"That thing died of exhaustion on the way to short. I mean, you could lose a poodle in that stuff."

"Juan Pierre is going steady with the left field pole."

"Rowand fought the wall, and the wall won."

To some of the older players in an Opening Day ceremony: "There are three stages in life -- youth, maturity, and 'you-look-wonderful.' Gentlemen, may I just say, you look wonderful."

"Have you ever thought of asking, 'Manny, how did your hair get that way?' Maybe I'll get up the nerve to ask him the next time I see him."

"Slow curve-- I'm not sure if they had a speed gun or an egg timer on that one."

[Playoffs in 09] "Eighth inning, a 1-1 tie, 56,000 fans on their feet, and the deuces are as wild as they ever will be!"

"This is a heck of a time for me to be reading this one. The Dodgers invite you to hit, throw, run and swing for the fences--in other words, all the things the Dodgers are not doing tonight."

"His father is six foot eight, but his mother is five foot two. And that would be the long and short of it."

[4/15/2012] "There is nothing like the steady beat of 'ball one' to quiet a crowd."

[5/7/2012] (describing the memorable game in the LA Coliseum honoring Roy Campanella) "I remember thinking, 'That's not a wheelchair; that's a throne.'"

"He weighs 160 with rocks in his pockets."

"Cargo late on a changeup [...] he started that swing sometime late yesterday."

[5/17/12] "Aaron Harang gets a new ball, and he'll have to rub a wrinkle in it."

[6/16/12] "The 1992 season would be the one blot on his escutcheon." (Talking about Tommy LaSorda)

[6/17/12] Describing pitcher Chris Capuano's excellent bunt: "Dropping a poached egg on toast, he moves his runner along."

And there's several good Vin Scully quotes from the 2012 season in this Aug. 26 LATImes story

Vin Scully's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by Cavalier92, Creative Commons

• Vin Scully the Answer Man
• Vin Scully Remembers His Greatest Calls

Jackie Robinson: The Story of an American Hero
On April 15th, 1947, Jack Roosevelt Robinson stepped onto a baseball diamond in Brooklyn, New York. That was a few years after African-American soldiers came...