Dodger Thoughts

By Jon Weisman

We greet you this morning with a treat — a peek at Vin Scully on the brink of his Dodger career.

Last week, my former employer Variety ran a piece with TV legend Norman Lear talking about his first mention in the publication — which came way back in 1950.

That year, of course, is a magic year, because it’s the year of Scully’s debut with the Dodgers after impressing Red Barber with his professionalism during the broadcast of a college football game at a freezing cold Fenway Park. So I decided to look in Variety’s archives to see if Scully was also mentioned in 1950.

Turns out he was — months before his Dodger career began, in this letter from William A. Coleman, chairman of the AM-TV Division of Scully’s alma mater, Fordham University. Coleman was promoting his recent alumni as potential announcing stars of tomorrow.

Or take a lad from last year’s June class — “Vin” Scully. Graduation day found him working at WTOP, CBS’s Washington outlet, and in the fall the nation heard him reporting in each Saturday for Red Barber’s football and sports roundup. Now, we hear that Barber has signed him as his assistant for next season to broadcast and telecast the Brooklyn Baseball games. Here is one of the Ted Husings of tomorrow.”

Husing, if you’re wondering about the reference, was a prominent New York announcer — among other things, a mentor to Mel Allen and a predecessor of Barber as CBS radio sports director.

The Mac McGarry mentioned by Coleman also went on to great success, hosting Washington D.C.’s “It’s Academic,” the longest-running quiz program in TV history, according to the Washington Post, which credits Scully for urging him to apply for a summer job at WRC-TV in 1950.

“Ten years from now, Variety may well run another ‘those were the good old days article and point out the headliners who stepped out from this talent incubator,” Coleman wrote. Yes, you could say Vin Scully validated this prediction.

Originally published November 2, 2015

Editor’s note: To say the least, Vin Scully comes by his gift for language honestly. In September 1965, while on a Dodger road trip, Scully wrote a guest column for the Times, excerpted below.  He was a master of word and thought then, just as he is now. So pull up a chair … 

By Vin Scully

PITTSBURGH — It came up rain, a gray somber rain that put a frown on the careworn face of Pittsburgh. My window was streaked with erratic wet lines that made me think of a small child crying. Rain meant disappointment to thousands of fans — and a doubleheader to broadcast — and it meant that on that wet afternoon, I was face to face with the biggest enemy on the road … TIME …

The radio hummed softly in the background and I began to pick out a few lyrics … “Lost out here in the stars … little stars … big stars …” I began to hold memories up to the light like color slides: New York — I could smell the cigaret smoke in the old Polo Grounds. I was 10 and in the bleachers and I first realized that I could see the bat hit the ball before I could hear it.

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“The Valenzuela story is an incredible one. He throws two screwballs, one a little harder than the other. Pretty good curveball, and a sneaky fastball. … (For) 1981, all you have to do is start thinking about looking at Guerrero every day, maybe looking at this kid as a starter, and getting (the team) healthy.”

— Vin Scully, October 3, 1980

Posted for no other reason than the game was being aired today on SportsNet LA.

— Jon Weisman

Originally published October 6, 2015

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— Jon Weisman

Originally published September 20, 2015

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— Jon Weisman

Originally published August 29, 2015

By Jon Weisman

Vin Scully apologized, unnecessarily of course, for being two minutes late to his press conference today to discuss his return to the Dodgers in 2016, citing an accident near De Soto Avenue on the Ventura Freeway.

Then came the words that made everyone who adores him slam on their brakes: that 2016 would likely be his last season.

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By Jon Weisman

In his how-could-it-not-be-lovely feature on Vin Scully for the Washington Post, Chuck Culpepper passes along this anecdote from the legend.

… All along, he has sustained an appreciation for the skill on the field. That began in earnest his first year, 1950, in Brooklyn Dodgers days, when manager Burt Shotton had heard of Scully’s Fordham center-field days — good field, good throw, jammed too often as a hitter — and asked him to don a Gil Hodges uniform one day before an exhibition in Battle Creek, Mich.

“Gil Hodges was a marble statue,” Scully said. “And here I am, ‘Dodgers’ is down by the belt. My number is halfway down the back of my pants. But I got the uniform on, and I have a glove and all that. And I go out, and I remember, I played pepper with Carl Furillo, he was our right fielder, terrific guy. And it was just like college, playing pepper and everything. And then, I went out in the outfield, and Shotton said, ‘I want to see you shag some balls.’ And I said, ‘Okay.’

“I went out to center field, and there was a left-hand pitcher named Joe Hatten. And Joe and I were standing out there, maybe 300 feet from home plate during batting practice. And Roy Campanella got into the batting cage. And he swung, and he hit what I would call a high line drive. It just stayed straight. And I said, ‘Joe, I’ve got it.’ And he said, ‘Okay.’ And I caught it, but you know, the impact was like no impact I ever felt before. It was like maybe I was playing third base. And as soon as I caught it, I remember I turned to Joe and said, ‘Joe, I don’t belong out here.’ And you have no idea how fast that game is that they play.”

And: “And I watch them day after day and I think, ‘How good they are. Ho-oh-ly mackerel.’ And that’s what I love about it.” …

Read the entire piece here.

Originally published June 27, 2015

Originally published May 15, 2015

Here’s 20 minutes of Vin Scully talking to Roy Firestone in 1990 on ESPN’s “SportsLook,” which also includes an unforgettable clip of his Hall of Fame speech at Cooperstown.

Scully on the post-war Brooklyn Dodgers: “It was a team with nicknames that stuck to the ribs.”

– Jon Weisman

Originally published May 16, 2015

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Of Satchel Paige, Whitey Herzog and holes in fences  … in the words of Vin Scully from Tuesday’s broadcast.

— Jon Weisman

Originally published May 12, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XJHfgGuurI&feature=youtu.be&t=25m29s

I wonder if David Letterman thought he’d retire before Vin Scully when they met up for this 1990 interview.

Pace of play is part of the conversation, and — go figure — so is the Grateful Dead.

(Thanks to Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News for the link.)

— Jon Weisman

Originally published May 7, 2015

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If you didn’t get to hear Vin Scully at FanFest on Saturday, above is a special video capturing his words, where you can hear about his nightmare of “being chased by a giant clam screaming ‘Linguine!'” That’s right.

— Jon Weisman

Originally published February 5, 2015

By Mark Langill

How does an oversized Vin Scully collectible stay hidden for nearly 50 years?

Gary Cypres, the owner and curator of the Sports Museum of Los Angeles, couldn’t believe his ears recently when he received a phone call from a collector in Texas, describing an advertising banner used at Union 76 stations in 1966 promoting the company’s Dodger record collection.

“I’ve never seen something like this before,” Cypres said. “I didn’t even know it existed.”

Cypres jumped at the chance to add another one-of-a-kind item to his exhaustive collection, which this season was on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

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Today is the eighth anniversary of the Dodgers’ remarkable 4+1 game, which Sports Illustrated and Tom Verducci called the game of the year.  SportsNet LA has produced a remembrance of the incredible night through the eyes of Vin Scully. You can also read my own essay about the game here.

— Jon Weisman

Originally published September 18, 2014

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I could listen to this call again and again.

— Jon Weisman

Originally published September 15, 2014