The Poet Laureate of Baseball - November 28, 2008

There aren't many things that have stayed constant since 1950. In that time, there have been six popes, twelve presidents, and 59 best pictures. But one thing that has remained constant is that, for six decades, Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger fans have known that they could tune into a ballgame and hear the mellow tones of Vin Scully calling the action. Vincent Edward Scully was born November 29, 1927, and developed a love of sports, sportscasting, and the roar of the crowd by lying underneath his parents' radio and listening to such giants as Graham McNamee and Ted Husing call college football games (but not baseball; New York's three major league teams forbade any radio broadcasts of their games until 1938, not wanting to give the product away for free). Scully played some baseball himself while at Fordham University, but longed to do play-by-play. Finally, in 1950, announcer Red Barber convinced the Dodgers to hire Scully, and the rest is baseball and broadcasting history. When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, a new phenomenon was born as people who came to the LA Coliseum to watch the game brought their transistor radios so as to not miss any of Vin's calls. Over the decades, Vinny (as Dodger fans lovingly refer to him) has cemented his reputation as the finest baseball play-by-play man in history, whose style mixes poetry and play-by-play in a way that reports only the facts of the game, rather than blatantly rooting for the Dodgers. So beloved is Scully that, in 1969, when Los Angeles fans were asked to vote on the Greatest Dodger of All Time -- from a roster that included Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, and Duke Snider -- Vin won in a landslide. He was voted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1982, and when reports indicated he might retire after the 2008 season, fans were so upset that the team was forced to announce that he'll man Dodger Stadium's broadcast booth through at least the 2009 season. And on this weekend especially, that is something all baseball fans can be thankful for. Happy Birthday, Vin! Suggested Sites... MLB.com: Vin Scully's Top Ten Calls - a salute to Vin, with video clips. Baseball Almanac: Vin Scully Quotes - includes the transcript of the ninth inning of Sandy Koufax's perfect game. Salon Brilliant Careers: Vin Scully - for 60 years, an Irish redhead from the Bronx has been the gold standard for baseball announcers. Wikipedia: Vin Scully - good overview of Vin's life and career. NPR: Recorded History: Vin Scully Calls a Koufax Milestone - aw, the hell with it -- here's the audio of the Koufax game. Pure poetry.