I snuck out of work for lunch today. The bosses may be upset, but I don't regret a simple step I took.
Why do you care? Simple. Sneaking off the premises for (almost) real food allowed me to hear Vin Scully's home run calls from Monday night's Dodgers game. This immediately makes for a good day.
Mike and the Mad Dog played back Scully's calls as the Dodgers hit four home runs in a row in the ninth inning to tie San Diego, followed by Nomar Garciaparra's walkoff in the 10th.
For those of living outside the coverage area of Vin Scully, there is no greater reason to appreciate life than when we hear his voice describing baseball. He's a one-man booth, capable of seamlessly weaving play-by-play with color commentary.
For those living within the broadcast area, cherish these days because at some point, Scully won't be there. Then, you'll be like fans of the other 29 baseball teams who have to make do with lesser announcers, all of whom feel like they must distinguish themselves with over-the-top signature calls of groundouts to second with no one out in the sixth inning of a blowout.
When Scully's voice comes through a microphone, baseball fans have no choice but to stop and listen. He really is the best the game has ever heard. Any time I hear Scully call a game, I immediately think back to my childhood when he and Joe Garagiola called the Game of the Week on NBC. That was magic. Now, it's Joe Buck and Tim McCarver or worse. Although, a nod goes to Buck for making fun of McCarver whenever the opportunity presents itself, which is often.
Just take a look at some of the historic moments Scully has called for us:
- All six Dodgers World Series championships
- Three perfect games
- 18 no-hitters
- Scoreless innings streaks by Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser
- Hank Aaron's 715th home run
- Kirk Gibson's Game 1 home run in the 1988 World Series
In the summer of 1998, I worked at SportsTicker in Jersey City. The job was simple and mindless: watch a game on television and/or take pitch-by-pitch reports from a person at the stadium and record it all. Basically, I was the guy who updated gamecast-type things on the Internet.
On one particular day, the Dodgers were playing. The game was on television and we had a reporter at the game feeding me live info. I heard a voice in the background. "Is that Scully?" I asked. The reporter said yes.
"You got the game on TV over there?" he asked.
I said yes.
"Good, I'm gonna put the phone down so you can hear Scully tell this story," the reporter said. "If anything crazy happens, I'll fill you in."
For all those following the game that day online, I apologize for the extremely slow updates. But, dude, it was Vin Scully telling a story. Some things take precedent over 0.62 percent of a season.
Comments (1)
I agree, Vin Scully is one of the best all time broadcasters. I was 9 when the Mets won the World Series and the one thing that I rememeber the most is Scully's calls. He is the last of the great announcers that MLB has left, I wish I could hear more calls, more often by Scully.