Thanks to this Lyle Spencer interview with Vin Scully on MLB.com, we learn that the night Scully broadcast the Dodgers’ 1955 Game 7 World Series win, he went on a date with future “Sesame Street” creator Joan Ganz Cooney.
… “After the third out, Johnny Podres having shut them out, I was taken in a car to the Lexington Hotel with some other Dodgers people,” Scully said. “I had a date, and I left the group to get my car and go pick her up. We drove over to Brooklyn for the party at the Bossert Hotel.
“It was like V-J Day and V-E Day rolled into one when we came out of the tunnel. There were thousands of people on the sidewalks leading to the hotel. There were policemen, and parking attendants who took your car about a block from the hotel. Walking down that street to the hotel, that was an unforgettable scene.”
Young Vin really knew how to impress a date.
“Her name was Joan Ganz,” Scully said. “She was from Arizona. I’m pretty sure she later became the creator of ‘Sesame Street.’ You can check on that. We liked each other and stayed in touch, but it never got serious. I haven’t told this story, but what the heck. That was a long time ago.”
An internet check confirmed Scully’s recollection of the future of Ms. Ganz, a publicist in New York City when they met. In 1966, Joan Ganz Cooney oversaw and directed the creation of “Sesame Street,” which premiered in 1969. As the first executive director for Children’s Television Workshop, she was among the groundbreaking female executives in American television.
A Presidential Medal of Freedom award winner in 1995, Ganz Cooney was elected in 1989 to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame, and three years later was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Her date that memorable October night in 1955 also is a Hall of Famer, of the Cooperstown variety. …
Anonymous
“Dodger baseball is brought to you by the letter U, easternmost vowel in order, westernmost in flavor!”
Anonymous
And by the number 42!
Anonymous
In the Ken Burns documentary Vinny does a beautiful recollection of the trip from the Lexington Hotel back to Brooklyn.
Anonymous
Wow! Small world. What an interesting story. Thanks for posting, Jon.
Michael Green
Great to see you popping in, Jon. Vin actually did tell the story before, but nearly 40 years ago. In 1975, The Complete Handbook of Baseball had a profile of him by Bill Libby, a longtime freelance writer, inspired by Vin’s return to national TV in the 1974 World Series–his first baseball appearance since the last Dodger World Series in 1966. I guess he’s allowed to tell it every 40 years.
Anonymous
Like donuts, is there anything Vin can’t do?
Michael Green
By the way, a friend of mine who worked at KDWN in Las Vegas told me that before going on the air, one of the announcers would come on the line to provide a weather update and then they could hear the mike check. So they would hear Vin checking: “One, two, three, four, five … five, four, three, two, one.” One day they played it on the air as “Vin’s Audition for Sesame Street.”
Anonymous
Sure wish KDWN would carry the Dodger games again.
Jon Weisman
Test
Anonymous
Jon:
Are you directly affected by the demise of Daily Variety?
Jon Weisman
In terms of job security, no.
Anonymous
The closer it gets to opening day, the more I miss your posts, Jon.
Jon Weisman
I seriously almost posted on Hanley Ramirez yesterday and simply ran out of time. It was my youngest son’s birthday, so I was again preoccupied.
I would love to figure out how to get things going again. I am going to write something Opening Day – I’m taking the day off work.
Anonymous
Wouldn’t it be a pleasant surprise if Cruz fielded and hit at the shortstop spot and Uribe did the same at third. Hanley gets to get his full spring training in at ss while recuperating plus when Hanley comes back, Uribe either becomes tradeable or plays lots of first base. Hanley’s injury would then be helpful.
Anonymous
That upside kind of makes sense :)