Sports

Updated: Scully Back For 65th Year as Dodgers Announcer

Vin Scully, 85-year-old broadcaster of the Dodgers, will return in 2014 covering games in California and Arizona.

Editor's note: Updated Friday, 9:20 p.m.

By City News Service

Vin Scully said Friday he's looking forward to returning to the Dodgers broadcast booth for a record 65th season in 2014, again calling all home games and road games in California and Arizona.

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The venerable voice of the Dodgers said the team's rise from last place to first in the National League West Division and the continued support of his wife Sandi were among the factors prompting his return.

"It became so exciting again," Scully said at a Dodger Stadium news conference before the Dodgers' 2-0 interleague victory over the Boston Red Sox. 

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"I don't know how I would have felt had they stayed in last place. I probably would have come back anyway because I love it so much, but it made it pretty easy."

Scully said he and his wife, who he called " absolutely the strength of my life," talked before he made his decision to return.

"She said, 'I know you love it and you're happiest when you do it,' so why not do it again?", Scully said, adding that he would not have returned if "my enthusiasm was waning" or if his wife wanted him to retire.

Scully said the team's announcement of his return could have been dealt with in "one line in the notes" distributed to reporters before the game.

"I didn't want to make a big deal about it. I certainly didn't care for a press conference. I have nothing to say except I'm hopefully healthy enough to come back next year."

When asked to name the unforgettable individuals he's known in baseball, Scully responded that his prayers were answered when the late Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, who moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, was elected to the Hall of Fame. He added that he hopes Gil Hodges, the first baseman on the Dodgers' "Boys of Summer" teams of the 1950s, is next.

"I am frustrated to this day, and I will go to my grave frustrated, if Gil Hodges is not elected to the Hall of Fame," Scully said. "He was a marvelous player. He was an incredible human being, a remarkable leader, a great Marine. If I could just get Gil Hodges into the Hall of Fame, I'd really be thrilled."

Dodgers chairman Mark Walter said "the Dodgers are overjoyed to have Vin back with the team in 2014. Vin is Dodger baseball. The Dodgers, the sport of baseball and the city of Los Angeles are extremely fortunate to have him in our midst."

Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the Basketball Hall of Fame member who is a partner of Guggenheim Baseball Management which owns the team, said "we're so grateful that Vin wants to continue to call Dodger games. Being able to listen to Vin helps make every Dodger game something special."

Scully has been announcing the team's games since 1950, when it was based in Brooklyn. In 2014, he will call all nine innings of the team's television broadcasts on the Time Warner SportsNet LA, with the first three innings of each of his games simulcast on KLAC-AM (570).

"Vin brings a unique perspective to Dodger baseball," team President and CEO Stan Kasten said.

"Everyone in the Dodger family and within the sound of his voice benefits each and every time we are afforded the opportunity to hear him call a Dodger game. We are thrilled to know that experience will continue at least through the 2014 season."

Scully's many honors include the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball" and being named the greatest sportscaster by the American Sportscasters Association.

A ranking system devised by author Curt Smith for his 2005 book "Voices of the Game" determined that Scully was baseball's greatest announcer, giving him a perfect score of 100, based on such factors as longevity, language, popularity and persona.

Either on the team or NBC broadcasts, Scully has called such memorable moments by the Dodgers -- or their opponents -- as Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, New York Yankee pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game against the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series and Hank Aaron's record- setting 715th home run.

"Vin Scully is more than the voice of the Dodgers," Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "L.A. Little Leaguers hear his voice when swinging for the fences and as adult, we hear his voice during those big moments in our lives. Vin Scully transcends L.A.'s ever-changing 'A List.' In his seventh decade here, he is an icon to grandparents, parents and our kids and earns new fans with each new child who tunes in to their first Dodgers game."

Fellow Dodger announcer Charley Steiner told City News Service last year that Scully is an icon who will be venerated for decades to come.

"He is to sportscasting what The Beatles were to music," Steiner said. "You could argue who is the second greatest group of all time, you can argue who's the second greatest baseball broadcaster of all time, but case closed on The Beatles and Vin."

Original story posted Friday, 7:26 a.m.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to announce Friday that 85-year-old Vin Scully will return for a record 65th season in 2014.

"It has been such an exciting, enjoyable, wonderful season -- the big crowds in the ballpark, everybody is talking about the ballclub and I really respect, admire and love the management -- so everything just fell into place," Scully told the Los Angeles Times. "I really still enjoy it immensely. My health is good, thank God, so why not? And my wife said, 'Why not?' as well.

"Just the thought of walking away from it to retirement -- and looking out the window or something? It's just too good. As a baseball man and someone who has always loved the game, the situation and conditions are perfect."     The team is expected to announce today that Scully, who has been announcing the team's games since 1950, when it was based in Brooklyn, will return next season, a Dodgers source told City News Service.

Scully broadcasts the entire games alone, the first three innings on both television and radio and the remainder exclusively on television. He has reduced his workload to the team's games in California and Arizona.

His many honors include the Ford C. Frick Award, presented annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for "major contributions to baseball" and being named the greatest sportscaster by the American Sportscasters Association.

A ranking system devised by author Curt Smith for his 2005 book "Voices of the Game" determined that Scully was baseball's greatest announcer, giving him a perfect score of 100, based on such factors as longevity, language, popularity and persona.

Either on the team or NBC broadcasts, Scully has called such memorable moments by the Dodgers (or their opponents) as Kirk Gibson's pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, New York Yankee pitcher Don Larsen's perfect game against the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series and Hank Aaron's record- setting 715th home run.

"He is the Babe Ruth of our industry. Period. End of story," fellow Dodger announcer Charley Steiner said in 2012.

"He is to sportscasting what The Beatles were to music. You could argue who is the second greatest group of all time, you can argue who's the second greatest baseball broadcaster of all time, but case closed on The Beatles and Vin."   

TELL US IN THE COMMENTS: Can you imagine doing anything for 65 years? Who are your favorite announcers and why?


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