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Vin Scully, baseball and growing up

Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2022 10:23 pm
by MeDotOrg
I grew up in Southern California. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, I was a Little Leaguer obsessed with baseball. I can still recite the lineup for the '59 Dodgers. Few games were televised then, so we listened to the games on radio.

Vin Scully, who died to day at the age of 94, was considered the template for a great baseball announcer. I had an album of Vin Scully calling games in 1959.

Image

If you want to listen, it's on YouTube.

Scully's style was folksy and laconic, and fit perfectly with the slow pace of baseball on a hot summer afternoon. He would weave a story into the call of the game so that when there was no action on the field, his master story telling took over. I not only got the score, but I learned the culture of baseball from listening to Scully. It's like the difference between watching a TV show and a radio drama. Your imagination is engaged more with radio.

Listening to Vin Scully was one of the joys of my childhood. RIP, Vin.

Re: Vin Scully, baseball and growing up

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 12:16 am
by Res Ipsa
To this day, I’d rather listen to a baseball game on the radio than watch one on TV. Vin Scully is one of the reasons for that. I love announcers who can make me feel like I’m at the park watching the game live. Very sad news indeed.

Re: Vin Scully, baseball and growing up

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 1:26 pm
by Xenophon
Thanks for sharing this MeDotOrg and opening up a whole slew of nostalgia feelings. I hadn't heard too much Vin Scully but your link was a fascinating listen.
Res Ipsa wrote:
Thu Aug 04, 2022 12:16 am
To this day, I’d rather listen to a baseball game on the radio than watch one on TV. Vin Scully is one of the reasons for that. I love announcers who can make me feel like I’m at the park watching the game live. Very sad news indeed.
Isn't this the truth, if I'm not there I'd much rather just listen. I come from a long line of Texas Ranger diehards so I grew up listening to Eric Nadel for most games. I'm not sure I'll ever get the sound of "that ball is history" out of my brain.

I think one of my favorite aspects of baseball is how crucial the play-by-play are to the org, even in our current time. Nadel is as much a Ranger to me as Nolan or Pudge or Beltre. They are the spirit and energy of a team.

ETA: One of his limericks, Hex, about the the infamous dropped fly that would have won the Rangers the title in 2011
My feelings toward Cruz are complex,
His homers soar several decks,
He’s kind and he’s shy,
But if he’d caught that fly,
We wouldn’t still have this damn hex.