DODGERS The VIN SCULLY Thread

Discussion in 'Los Angeles DODGERS' started by irish, Sep 22, 2016.

  1. Gebbeth

    Gebbeth DSP Legend

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    My trip down amnesia lane
     
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  2. Fall Winslow

    Fall Winslow McRib

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    Both Vin and Kobe went out like kings
    Epic endings fit for kings
    The sing along with Vin was 100% church
    Dodger blue gospel
     
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  3. fsudog21

    fsudog21 DSP Legend

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    Didn't 11 only show road games from SF?
     
  4. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    awesome!
    [​IMG]
     
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  5. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    [​IMG]
     
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  6. THINKBLUE

    THINKBLUE DSP Gigolo

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    In a radio inerview today, Vin spoke about his world series call in 1955: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Brooklyn Dodgers are the Champions of the world" ...and how that's all he could get out of himself without crying.

    He has said this before, and I always mention it when people are over critical of his non-homer broadcast. He truly loves the Dodgers and wants us to succeed.
     
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  7. MZA

    MZA MODERATOR Staff Member

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    Little story I just recently found out about.

    My mom cleans houses and a bit before I was born (or just around there) she used to work for Vin Scully. She ended up quitting because she wasn't a fan of the wife. When I found out, I told her she should have stayed there. I could have met him, since she used to take me to work with her when I was little and all the other families she worked for never had an issue with it.
     
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  8. dodgers

    dodgers DSP Legend

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    Chills
     
  9. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    cool story from the other side...

    Behind the scenes with Vin Scully: Giants broadcasters share favorite memories
    by Daniel Brown | The Mercury News — 6 hours ago

    [​IMG]
    Giants broadcasters Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow, Jon Miller and Dave Flemming pay their respects to Vin Scully before a game Aug. 25.

    SAN FRANCISCO — They know it’s time because the door swings open. That’s the signal to the Giants broadcasters that it’s OK to come inside and pull up a chair.

    Vin Scully is about to hold court.

    They ease into Scully’s broadcast booth one-by-one — Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, Jon Miller and Dave Flemming — eager to savor their private audience with the greatest storyteller baseball has ever known.

    Maybe they squeeze in a 15-minute chat before that night’s broadcast. Maybe it’s only 5. But there is only ever one item on the menu: the talk au Vin.

    “He’ll tell us one or two or three stories, usually about the Giants-Dodgers rivalry,” Kuiper said. “And it’s always an amazingly incredible story, whether it’s about Jackie Robinson or Don Newcombe or Willie Mays or Willie McCovey. Those are really treasured moments.”

    But the door is about to close forever.

    Scully, 88, signs off Sunday for the last time, retiring after 67 years behind the Dodgers microphone. The Society for American Baseball Research found the best way of connecting the generations: Scully’s first Dodgers broadcast came during a spring training game in 1950, where the opposing manager was Connie Mack, who was born during the Civil War.

    In advance of his farewell, we asked the Giants broadcasters to reflect on Scully’s influence, his legacy and what it means to call him a friend.

    Scully is the wordsmith and the master, but they each took their best shot at trying to put his epic career in perspective.

    GROWING UP SCULLY

    Krukow: I was raised in Los Angeles and I was a Dodgers fan. I grew up with Vin. My goal was to have him say my name on the radio. To me, that would be like I’d planted my flag. So in 1977, I’m with the Cubs. We come into play L.A. I’m pitching the Friday night game. It’s bat night and there are 50,000 people there.

    In the bottom of the third, I go out there and everybody has their transistor radios going and I could hear the broadcast. And Vin is talking about me. I can hear him say my name on the radio. And it was the coolest thing to ever happen to me. I’m listening to the whole thing and it was just pure satisfaction.

    Miller: As a 10-year-old in the Bay Area, I was so partisan for the Giants that for me it was the good guys and the bad guys. Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons were the ‘good guys’ broadcasters and Vin Scully, he was the broadcaster for the bad guys.

    Russ Hodges would say “Bye, Bye Baby” when the Giants hit a home run and Lon would say “Tell It Goodbye.”

    But Vinny didn’t seem to have a phrase. It was just a vivid description of where the ball went, maybe a “Way back, and she’s gone” and whatnot. I remember thinking as a 10-year old: “No wonder he’s working a jerkwater town like L.A. If that’s all he’s got, he’ll never get out of that town.” (Laughter). Well, that was one thing I was right about: He’s still there.

    FAVORITE STORIES

    Krukow: In all these pre-game fireside chats with us, Vin would tell us these stories. And he can remember the temperature of the day or the mood of the team coming into it because his recall is total.

    So he was talking about the rivalry between the Dodgers and the Giants and how one day Vin came out of the manager’s office at the Polo Grounds, looked around the clubhouse and there were two guys left there. And they were both arguing. One of them is Pee Wee Reese, the captain of the Dodgers and the other was Jackie Robinson. And they were arguing over who would get the biggest boo when they walked out the door.

    So this is going back and forth and Scully is a fly on the wall. And he stops. He’s hardly breathing. He’s a rookie broadcaster, and they don’t see him. So he’s up there witnessing the whole thing. So, finally, Reese ties his shoes, picks up his glove and bat, and walks over to the door. He takes a step out and there is this monumental boo, right?

    The door closes. Jackie Robinson stands up, gets his glove and his bat, and he walks right to the door. And he takes his bat and he opens up the door, because the Giants fans knew that there was one guy left in there. And as he opened up the door about 4 inches, the boo just erupted and filled the room.

    As Jackie’s standing there, he gets this big smile on his face. He looks up at the rookie broadcaster, winks at him, opens the door and walks out.

    Now, where do you get stories like that?

    Miller: I remember he told me — well, he’s told everybody — that when Sandy Koufax had his perfect game in 1965, they didn’t record all the games on the radio like they do now.

    So (Scully) called the station after the eighth inning and told them to record the ninth inning so that if Koufax got the no-hitter or the perfect game, they could present him with the tape as a memento. And maybe years from now, Sandy could play it for his grandchildren or whatever and explain who he used to be.

    Because Vin did that, he included some things in the ninth inning that became signatures of that broadcast. He included the time, the date and that the game was being played in L.A. “It is 9:46 p.m. in the City of the Angels …” And people would say ‘Wow! That really set the stage.’ But he wasn’t doing anything but thinking of Sandy Koufax listening to this with his grandchildren 25 years from now.

    SOUNDS OF SILENCE

    Amy Gutierrez (in-game reporter): One of the things I enjoy about Vin, and I think Duane does this, too, is that he lets the game speak for itself. He doesn’t feel the need to talk the whole play. He’s comfortable with not talking. And I love that style of broadcasting, because the game is a story in itself.

    Kuiper: That’s nice of Amy to say, but I think the difference between Vin and me is that I don’t have those stories or fillers. I just don’t have anything to say. (Laughs) If my style is a little bit like his, it’s just an accident.

    Miller: (Recalling that after Scully gave the play-by-play of Hank Aaron’s record 715th home run in 1974, he followed with several minutes of silence). The fans were cheering. There was the roar of the crowd. Fireworks went off. And Vin just let the ambiance in the ballpark wash over his audience.

    And then Vin came back and he brought it all together in a brilliant fashion. This was the stuff that, as a writer, you might sweat blood just trying to capture this epic moment. He did it off the top of his head while 50,000 people were screaming.

    GETTING TO KNOW HIM

    Flemming:
    He would have every right to just say hello and move on or be disinterested. But what Vin always does whenever I see him is provide a little scouting report. “Hey, this guy is swinging the bat well. This pitcher is throwing this pitch” I mean, Vin wants to help you do a good broadcast.

    So we get to go in and meet the master and pay our respects. And for Vin, it’s like, “Here’s my fellow colleague. I’m going to share a little information so his broadcast can be better.” There is no pretense whatsoever. There is no act.

    Miller: There is nobody more gracious and more inclusive. He looks you right in the eye. And even though you just met him, he wants to know who you are and what you need.

    Krukow: When I first started doing this, I was totally in awe of this guy. I really still am. So I kind of reverently approached the iconic figure. And then he just has a way of bringing normalcy to the room and making everybody there feel comfortable, like you’re his friend. He’s one of those rare human beings that doesn’t have another side. What you see — how you envision him being — that’s exactly how he is.

    MASTER OF HIS CRAFT

    Miller:
    Bob Costas and I used to kid each other about how Vinny would never get interrupted telling a story. Bob and I would say, “How many times do we tell a story and just before we get to the punch line, someone would hit it off the wall?”

    But this would never happen to Vinny. And we decided that Vinny was held in such high regard by the players that they waited for him to finish his story and then hit one off the wall.

    The reality is that Vin has such a feel for the game. He doesn’t seem to tell those stories in a moment where something might be about to happen. He has an internal clock about the game itself.

    THE LIGHTER SIDE

    Krukow:
    We were playing golf at Lake Merced. This is when I was still a player. I forget what hole it was, but there was a big forest to the left of the tee box. And Scully was hitting last. He tees it up. And he hits this magnificent slice that goes right into the heart of the forest. I mean, right in the heart.

    And he never stopped. Right in his back swing, he starts walking down the slope of this elevated tee and he’s reciting “Trees.” And he knew every word. And here I am walking down the fairway with Vin Scully reciting and ode to a tree on a ball that he just hit into the woods.

    Flemming: I probably should not tell you this story, but there is one moment recently where I walked into the men’s room and Vin is there. Vin’s famous line at the beginning of a Dodgers broadcast is “Pull up a chair,” right? Dodgers fans hear that and they know Vin. I walk into the men’s room and Vin goes, “Dave, pull up a urinal.” He’s got a great sense of humor. He does. And he makes us laugh every time we see him.

    ECHOES OF SCULLY

    Krukow:
    When you listen to Scully, the one thing that he is incredibly good at is being fair. He’s fair to the other team. So let’s say Charlie Neal, the (Dodgers) second baseman, made an error. Vin would make a point of noting the error. Then he would talk about the upside of the play: The hitter took a nasty pitch from Drysdale and he hit a bullet to the right of Neal, who was maybe unfairly given an error.

    Maybe the hitter was Orlando Cepeda, who has a great approach to right field, or whatever. It was just a way of taking a negative and enhancing the positives and talking about Orlando Cepeda’s at-bats. Or Stan Musial’s at-bats. Or Aaron’s at-bats. Or Clemente’s at-bats.

    So when you listen to him talk, you were aware of the greatness of the opponent. You didn’t have an animosity toward the opponent: You had a respect. We try to incorporate that into our broadcasts.

    Kuiper: The first thing you have to realize when you’re a broadcaster, especially if you’re starting out: You’re not going to be Vin Scully. And if you try to copy his style, forget it. Because people are not going to buy into it. As great as it is to listen to him, you can’t be him.

    SIGNING OFF

    Miller:
    In another life he would have been Walter Cronkite. He would have been the guy who covered conventions or tragedies for a major network because I think he would have been great at it. It is our good fortune that he wanted to be a baseball broadcaster.

    Krukow: His genius is his poetry. He weaves whatever story he has into the flow of the game, and that’s the elegance of what he does. He’s our poet. That’s what he does.
     
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  10. fsudog21

    fsudog21 DSP Legend

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    So when you listen to him talk, you were aware of the greatness of the opponent. You didn’t have an animosity toward the opponent: You had a respect. We try to incorporate that into our broadcasts.
    --------------------------------

    Sorry Krukow. This is bullshit on your part.
     
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  11. rube

    rube DSP Legend Staff Member Administrator

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    jeff kent didnt care for vin scully
    fuck jeff kent
     
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  12. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    never liked that redneck douche
    that didn't change when he became a dodger
    he and (fellow douche) luis gonzalez went out of their way to criticize the younger players
    the exact opposite of utley
    one thing to be hard nosed
    another to just be a douche
     
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  13. Gebbeth

    Gebbeth DSP Legend

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    No one likes Jeff Kent. He's like the anti-Vin.
     
  14. Bluezoo

    Bluezoo Among the Pantheon

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    I liked Jeff Kent.
     
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  15. Doughty8

    Doughty8 DSP Legend

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  16. fsudog21

    fsudog21 DSP Legend

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    The younger players deserved it.

    That said, Kent was still a dick.
     
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  17. fsudog21

    fsudog21 DSP Legend

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  18. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    they probably did
    but he handled it poorly
    i like the way chase has taken corey under his wing

    so true
     
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  19. fsudog21

    fsudog21 DSP Legend

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    No doubt about it.

    I thought the Utley signing was stupid.

    Obviously a wise choice on several levels.
     
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  20. irish

    irish DSP Staff Member Administrator

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    sam yorty and barry goldwater like this
     
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  21. Bluezoo

    Bluezoo Among the Pantheon

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    Au H2O
     

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