I haven't posted anything about the passing of Vin Scully a couple weeks ago at the age of 94 for two reasons. The first is that so many others have done it far better and using recordings of him, and the other is that I can't do him justice, and to try would almost give the wrong impression for being so short of the mark. However, there are a few things I've decided are worth noting. One is that he was as brilliant as others said. And brilliant for 67 years. And didn't just broadcast baseball, but also (which most people forget) announced football and golf for NBC for a while. And was not shockingly excellent at it. Another is something I didn't hear any tributes mention, but it's one of the things that always deeply impressed me about Vin Scully that encapsulates his dedication. It's that he actually trained himself to read lips -- so that when the manager would go out to the mound to talk to the pitcher during a tense moment or when a player would get into an argument with an umpire...Scully would tell the listener what was being said. It was remarkable. "Tommy just said, 'Lou, how could you miss that? You're better than that, it was a terrible call.' And Lou is saying, 'Go back to the dugout, Tommy, I don't want to run you out." And third, this is just a personal appreciation of an offbeat memory. As you may know, for the past couple of decades, the Cubs have had "guest conductors" who lead the crowd in singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Some are famously awful, a few pretty good (usually professional singers), and most perfectly enjoyable in a "Well, they can sort of carry a tune somewhat okay." One day when the L.A. Dodgers were playing the Cubs at Wrigley Field, the team asked Vin Scully if he'd lead the crowd in the song, and he said yes. I happened to be listening, and two things stood out. The first is that, usually when a visiting announcer was invited to lead the singing, they do some fudging when it came to the line, "Root, root, root for the Cubbies," because they wanted to avoid saying that -- but Scully knew that that was the line at Wrigley, and he'd agree to sing, so that's what he sang. And the other thing is that -- he was stupendous. An absolutely great singer. I've always remembered it, because Scully was really good, And notable too is that (being Vin Scully) as good as he is singing, he praises the crowd. And...what the heck, if anyone is going to try to describe Vin Scully's brilliance and even come close to succeeding, this is it. It's his legendary call of the ninth inning of the perfect game that Sandy Koufax threw on September 9, 1965 -- against the Chicago Cubs, of all teams. How brilliant is it? I have a book of great baseball writing...and they include a transcription of Scully's entire call. As the editor notes, you (the reader) will think that this was written, and then edited to make it perfect, but it was all extemporaneous, spoken live on the spot, for 8-1/2 minutes, not a word was changed. That's how great it is. Here is that ninth inning.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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