By: Kelly
When Vin Scully first announced that 2016 would be his last year I knew I would be sad but the emotions I have felt over the past few days is much more than I thought I would feel. I’ve thought about writing this post the past couple of weeks but every time I start, I get overwhelmed with emotions. Vin is the voice of my childhood; he is the soundtrack of my childhood. Even ‘til this day whenever I hear his voice I think of my childhood, for the good and the bad. I would like to share a few memories with you about my childhood.
Every summer near the end of July or beginning of August so right around the trade deadline we would go camping. I remember vividly sitting around the campfire at night making s’mores and listening to Dodger’s games. I always got a kick out of Vin talking about the new players the Dodgers traded for. Even though it was their first few days on the team he already knew obscure facts about them. Thank you, Vin, for that.
I lived about 30 minutes from Dodgers Stadium, so my dad took me to 10-12 games a year. Every game we got there as the gates opened and left right after the 7th inning stretch because my dad wanted to beat the traffic. As a kid this always upset me but as I got older, I began to understand why he did it but that doesn’t stop me from teasing him about it still to this day. Anyways on to my Vin Scully memory. One of the things I remember doing at the games was listening to Vin on the radio as my dad taught me how to keep score. Even until this day when I go to a ballgame, I keep score of the game. There are days where I had a tough day at work or I’m stressed out about something I will grab my scorebook and keep score of a game, it’s therapeutic to me. Thank you, Vin, for that.
Two months before my 13th birthday my mom left. This was in March and baseball happened to be right around the corner. As you can imagine this was a really difficult time for me or any child that age. I remember two things helping me through this time, playing baseball and listening to Vin Scully call Dodger games. Evenings were especially hard for me but for three hours at a time I would listen to Vin and totally forget about what was going on in my life. Vin’s voice got me through one of the hardest times in my life. Whether I was paying attention 100% or not his voice in the background was soothing. Thank you Vin for that.
I moved from California to Washington State after I graduated high school in the summer of 1999. I went almost 10 years without hearing the sound of Vin Scully’s voice. MLB network started in 2009 and thanks to live look in’s I was able to hear Vin’s soothing voice once again and it brought me right back into my childhood. It was one of those things that you don’t realize you miss it until it is gone. For me it was Vin and double doubles from In & Out. Thanks to MLB Network for giving me another chance to listen Vin Scully again.
If I was forced to pick my favorite call of his I would have to go with his 1988 Kirk Gibson World Series call, “In a year that had been so improbable, the impossible has happened”. I can’t believe that I won’t ever hear him say, “It’s time for Dodger baseball” again or, “Hi, everybody and a very pleasant afternoon/evening to you, wherever you may be.” Thinking about not hearing him and instantly thinking about my childhood makes me sad and gets me all teary eyed.
Think about this for a minute. Vin Scully called his first World Series in 1953 which happened to be Johnny Mize last season. Mize was a rookie in 1936. This year Corey Seager is 22 years old and if he happens to play until he is 42 which will be 2036. This means Vin will have announced players whose active careers totaled over 100 years. That’s one century, folks!
Thank you, Vin, I am forever grateful to hear you all these years. You brought the game to life for me, and I am in debt to you!!!