A lot of folks thought Vin Scully was going to retire after this season, but he's got one more in him, he says:
Vin Scully, thought to be retiring this winter after 60 seasons, said this week he is planning on coming back for one more summer. Scully, 81, said if he continues to feel well he will work past his landmark year and retire after the 2010 season.
"God willing, I will probably come back for one more year," Scully said in a phone interview. "At this moment, my health is excellent, and I'm leaning toward one more year."
And then retire?
"Yes, that makes sense," he said.
The L.A. Times' Bill Plaschke, of course, gets this all wrong, going on about how the Dodgers need to take the next 15 months to think really, really hard and come up with some sort of special, spectacular sendoff. After describing a tribute video the team has been playing on the scoreboard and how Scully himself, while honored, felt rather uncomfortable with the whole thing, Plaschke says this:
This was the Dodgers' first attempt at a farewell, and it was a good one, but now it's time to get serious. If they could build a Mannywood in a couple of weeks, surely they can use the next few months to figure out a way to permanently honor Scully in a way that no Dodger has been honored before . . .
. . . Turn this Dodgers monument into a statue. Sculpt Scully sitting in a booth, with a microphone and headsets and his ever-present scorebook. Fill the desk with dozens of ports where fans can plug in headphones and listen to tapes of Scully's calls. What greater tribute than having Dodgers fans gathered at his feet as one, listening to his voice forever? Place the sculpture just beyond the Dodger Stadium center-field fence, in the area currently populated by autograph booths and fans chasing batting practice fly balls. Lay down some grass like they do at Yankee Stadium for the center-field Monument Park. Call it Scullyville.
Apart from the fact that Scully himself is probably reading that this morning and spitting coffee across the table due to just how horrifyingly opposed it is to everything he's ever stood for as a broadcaster, it's a fabulous idea.
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If anyones ever watched Around the Horn on ESPN, they know that Bill Plaschke is a moron. Somehow he not only has a job but people know his name and read his crap just to disagree with it. Only Chris Mortenson has a worse record of reporting...
I think Plaschke had a ghost writer for this piece.
Notice the section that you quote.
Count the number of sentences in the paragraph.
Is that number greater than one?
It is, isn't it?
Then it couldn't possibly be written by Bill Plaschke.
Actually it was; I often take the liberty of mashing his sentences together so they're more readable. That might break some rule, but it beats the hell out of trying to read his crap.
I guess that is one thing you have over the sports editor at the LA Times.
Thank you Craig, from the bottom of my heart. You're a true humanitarian.
This is one of the most hilarious things I've ever read.
As a lifelong Giants fan, I get my hackles up at anything colored Dodger blue. But Vinny is an exception. I'd tune in to listen to the man call paint drying. I've listened to a lot of people call baseball games in my life ... and lots of them were very good, but Vinny was the best. Everyone else was measured by his standard. In my mind's ear, I can still hear him calling Sandy Koufax pitching in the World Series ... yep, he was the best.
Ditto, John. Scully hasn't got a bit of homer in him. I'm also a hardcore battery chucker fan (but grown up and still live in SoCal) and Scully isn't a Dodger announcer as much as a baseball announcer who happens to announce for the hated ones. He is, simply, incredible, and I refuse to allow dogger fans to claim him as theirs.
I played baseball all my life. Grew up in Southern California and didn't really appreciate how good Vin Scully is until I started traveling to other cities and listening to other broadcasters. Jerry Coleman in San Diego was good, Dave Niehaus in Seattle was good too. I heard many broadcasters around the country in my 52 years, but none of them are close to Vinny. Vinny is the best!
While in a college English class, I was asked who my favorite poet was?
I said "Vin Scully".
I'm a life long Yankees fan, but I'm a huge fan of Vin Scully. In fact I have subscribed to the Baseball Network because of him and I listen to him regularly on XM Sirius!! Fortunately I remember him along with Jerry Doggett broadcasting the Dodger's games on Channel 9 in New York as well as on the radio on WMGM 1050 bback in the 1950's.
Vin Scully has no peer in broadcasting baseball.
I loved it in the years when the Yankees seemed to always play the Dodgers in the World Series and we fans heard both Vin Scully and Mel Allen do those games--ALONE--no "color" man. And by the way maybe MLB should explore the very excellent idea of having the broadcasters from the competing world series teams do the TV broadcasts because, quite frankly, I for one am Joe Bucked and Tim McCarvered out!! They may have their turn again when or IF the Cardinals are in the World Series.
LA has had the honor of two extraordinary broadcasters during the past 50 years--Vin Scully and Chick Hearn. One is gone and the other will soon retire. It will NEVER be the same without them.
My husband nad I love to listen to Vince S. we have the direct TV baseball package and cehck each Dodger broadcast to see if he is calling the game. Wow, we will miss him. I hope the Dodgers do something for him. Something that he will approve of.
When Chick Hearn passed, I stopped watching Laker games (especially once they got Joel Meyers)...Spiro Dedes is good, going to be even better; time to bring back the simulcast back with Spiro calling Laker games. Ok, sorry for the tangent. Vin is like a member of the family just keeping me up on what's happening...my earliest faint recollection of listening to Vin was when I was really little and the Dodgers were playing the White Sox in the '59 WS. My clearest early recollection was when the Dodgers & Giants were in the 3 game playoff in '62 after Maury Wills set the then stolen base record with 102. It's been Vin or nothing since then. It was odd hearing Vin do football & golf later on...still impeccable job, but obviously out of his element. It's just incredible that he's still doing what he does, at the LEVEL he does it....and, doing the entire game alone. No more "middle inning breaks".
Nothing would send Vin off into retirement better than for the Dodgers to be the WS Champions his final two seasons (Like the Lakers did for Chick!)
Being a life-long Dodger fan, I have only known baseball with Vin Scully's voice and will be forever grateful. He is not only the finest sports broadcaster of all-time, but more importantly he is a fantastic human being. He has raised awareness and money for countless charities and touched lives beyond just the baseball world. Vin not only calls a game better than anyone, he weaves stories of players, historical facts and cultural references effortlessly and has always remained neutral in his coverage. Above anything else, Vin Scully epitomizes class to me. My dream would be for the Dodgers to face the Yankees in the World Series this year and for Fox to be smart enough to have Vinny do all the games without any color man. Vin, whatever your decision after this year, may God Bless you and your family. I thank you for all the joy you have brought me and my family.
Vin Scully is a legend, the voice of Dodger baseball... No game would be complete without hearing "It's Time for Dodger Baseball!"... Gives me chills every time. He's been in Movies, Documentaries, TV Shows, just about anything with baseball in it. In my opinion the Best Baseball Announcer EVER in history of baseball. It wil be a sad sad day when Vin retires. But I wish him the best and thank him for giving us one more year.
BTW - I don't care who replaces him, there will never be an equal so stop comparing.
I grew up listening to the mellifluous tones of Vin Scully on the radio doing Dodger games. Vin is to baseball broadcasting as Walter Cronkite was to broadcast news anchoring. He is the standard by which all others will be compared.
"Call it Scullyville."
Shouldn't that be it's own paragraph?
Vin Scully IS baseball plain and simple. When he retires he'll be the last link to when baseball was a game.