By Josh:
Yesterday Vin Scully officially announced that his final game calling baseball will be October 2nd. Even if the Dodgers make the playoffs he is not going to call any of those games. I have to be honest this makes me pretty sad and honestly as I sit here trying to figure out what to write my thoughts are so scattered because of what Vin’s retirement means for fans and for baseball.
I didn’t grow up in the L.A. area like Kelly did, so I didn’t get to listen to Vin call games. I was lucky enough to live in the northwest where I could listen to another legend Dave Niehaus call baseball games, but regardless of my location I knew who Vin Scully was. I knew about the legacy and legend that he had created.
Vin Scully officially putting a date to the end of his historic career means an era of the greatest baseball play by play radio and TV voices is coming to an end. Scully is leaving, Niehaus and Harry Caray have passed away, and with Bob Uecker in his 80’s the game is losing something that is impossible to replace.
The individuals who call baseball on radio and TV do a fine job today, but when you lose true legends of the game you can’t just replace them. Fans need to understand just how much of an impact these men had on the game. Thousands of baseball fans are fans simply because the voice on the radio drew them into the game like no one else could.
The only positive I can find in all of this is that voices like Scully and Uecker will never disappear. My favorite baseball movie of all time, For Love Of The Game, has the golden sounds of Scully from start to finish, and Major League will always be my go to movie to listen to Uecker’s voice. I can always youtube Niehaus and Caray any time I need to find some joy, but not watching a game live or listen to one on radio with their voices painting a picture for me isn’t going to be easy to overcome.