This Day in Drabble History: Vin Scully

Vin Scully, who announced Dodger games for 66 years, passed away yesterday at 94. There have been and will be lots of glowing tributes from people who loved him. A common thread in these tributes, aside from his brilliance, is that he was a genuinely nice man.

Vin worked alone when he called Dodger games on radio and TV. He didn’t need a color man. Although he never played professionally, few people knew the game as well as he did. Kids growing up in Southern California who were baseball fans spent many hours with Vin, and those hours were valuable. He taught listeners more than just baseball. He sometimes quoted Shakespeare, the Gettysburg Address, and poetry during the course of a game. When kids were given a free baseball as they entered the stadium on Ball Night, Vin reminded them to go home and actually play with the ball, not to put it away in sock drawer. When Mother’s Day was approaching, Vin would remind kids of the importance of that day and not to forget it.

Vin added so much to games that Dodger fans would bring their transistor radios to the stadium so they could hear Vin’s call of the game they were watching live. In fact, you didn’t need to bring one because so many people did, you could always hear him. It was great! Nobody minded.

Vin saw things in a game that most others wouldn’t notice. An ordinary ground-out to second could actually have been a very important at-bat because the hitter moved the runner to third, or maybe he forced the pitcher to throw a lot of pitches. It seemed like nothing and no one was ordinary. He also saw other things most people never notice. The cotton candy sky. Mountains back of mountains behind the centerfield fence. On TV, the camera would often find children and families in the crowd. Vin loved it and shared warm thoughts about the kids eating ice cream or falling asleep on dad’s shoulder. Life was important.

I drew a strip where Norman and Patrick were trying to get a wave started in church. They would stand up with arms extended upward and sit back down. While listening to the game that night, Vin read and described my cartoon. It caught me by complete surprise and was a surreal experience. (When I was a kid, my goal was to have Vin Scully describe my work on the radio!) I sent the original strip to Vin at Dodger Stadium. It was late in the season and he didn’t get the package until the start of next season. He sent me a thank you note and even apologized that he had only just now received the strip!

I drew some strips about Vin over the years.

When Vin was to be honored in 2016 with a Lifetime Achievement award from the LA Sports Awards, one of my strips appeared in the ceremony’s program (thanks to Peter O’Malley, former owner of the Dodgers.)

Tom Hoffarth, the fine sportswriter, set up an opportunity for my family to meet Vin at the stadium before a game. I was able to give Vin another strip that I had drawn.

He couldn’t have been more gracious. He asked my sons questions about themselves, told us some stories, and gladly signed a baseball or two. He made us feel special and appreciated. In other words, we felt the same way as just about everyone else who was ever lucky enough to meet him.

Quite unexpectedly, I received this note from him a few days later.

Vin was very good at writing thank you notes to people. Just another example of what a class act he was.

The ability to uplift others just by being yourself is rare. Vin Scully had that ability.

—Kevin Fagan