Vin Scully Biography

Watching a Los Angeles Dodger baseball match without Vin Scully announcing the same is akin to eating a hamburger without ham! In sport broadcasting history, Vin Scully is a name to reckon with. His 67 seasons and association with the Dodgers, from their Brooklyn Dodger days to their Los Angeles Dodgers ones, as their broadcaster, is the longest ever tenure by any broadcaster in professional sports history with a single team. Scully since an early age was enthralled listening to football broadcasts on radio and dreamed of becoming a sports broadcaster one day. His dream realized when he took up the profile of a student broadcaster and journalist at the Fordham University. His first ever professional experience came with broadcasting a match for the CBS Radio Network by Red Barber in November 1949. The following year, he was first inducted in the Brooklyn Dodger team as one of the announcers in its radio and television booths. No sooner he became the play-by-play announcer of the team, and remained with the team till 2016. Interestingly, what has made him different from his counterparts is his wider vision and complete know-how of on and off field events. He tried to infuse his knowledge about the current affairs and how the same was related to a particular game within his broadcasting. Adding to the same was his impressive style and unique signatory description, ‘It's time for Dodger baseball!’

Childhood & Early Life

• Vin Scully was born on November 29, 1927 in The Bronx in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. His father was employed as a silk salesman while his mother was a homemaker.
• Since an early age, he took up menial jobs to make ends meet. He delivered beer and mails, pushed garment racks and cleaned silver in the basement of the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York City.
• Hhe completed his preliminary education from Fordham Preparatory School in Bronx.
• Interestingly, he was captivated when he listened to the football broadcast on radio and aspired to become a sports broadcaster.

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Career

• Completing his education, he joined the United States Navy which lasted for two years.
• Released from his duties in the navy, he realized his childhood dream of serving as a broadcaster. He then took up the profile of a student broadcaster and journalist at the Fordham University.
• While at the university, he multi-tasked. Not only did he earn a degree for himself, he helped found its FM radio station WFUV and served as the assistant sports editor for Volume 28 of The Fordham Ram.
• Simultaneously, he also played centre field for the Fordham Rams baseball team and called radio broadcast for Rams baseball, football and basketball teams. Having gained experience in sports broadcasting, he applied at about every radio station along the Eastern seaboard.
• He finally got an opportunity to broadcast a match for the CBS Radio Network by Red Barber in November 1949. Fuelled by his passion, he excellently performed at the do and impressed his employer at the first go itself.
• No sooner than in 1950, he joined hands with Barber and Cornelius Desmond as one of the announcers for Brooklyn Dodgers’ radio and television booths. A rift on salary issue between Barber and 1953 World Series sponsors, Gillette turned profitable for him as Barber left the team.
• He filled up for Barber as the announcer for the team, thereby becoming the youngest man ever to broadcast a World Series game, a record that stands till date.
• His impressive style, remarkable knowledge of the game and excellence over the mic earned him the place of the principal announcer in the team. In 1957, he announced the Dodger game in Brooklyn before the club moved to Los Angeles.
• He accompanied Brooklyn Dodgers in Los Angeles and remained as their chief broadcaster. He announced the first game of the 1958 season for the club which was renamed to Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Interestingly, his on-air play-by-play description of action was not only listened to by those who missed the chance to watch the game live, but by fans in the field as well due to the colossal grounds and inability to follow the game.
• The rising popularity and fan following earned him an offer of the lead play-by-play announcer for New York Yankees. However, he chose to remain with the Dodgers and rejected the proposition.
• During the 1980s and 1990s, he called the entire radio broadcast except for the 3rd and 7th inning, thus giving other Dodger announcers an opportunity. His broadcast partners were Jerry Doggett and Ross Porter.
• While his career was at its peak, he tried his hand at football as well. From 1975 to 1982, he announced the televised National Football League games for CBS Sports. What is noteworthy is that he proved his credentials even in football.
• Furthermore, baseball and football apart, he even served as the announcer for CBS’s tennis and golf tournaments. It was his increasing involvement with other games that led him to dedicate less time for Dodgers.
• In 1977, he called baseball for CBS Radio, which continued until 1982 for the All-Star Game. He, along with Sparky Anderson, was the official announcer for the World Series from 1979 to 1982.
• For the 1981 NFL season, while John Madden was chosen by CBS as their star color commentator, the spot of play-by-play commentator became a matter of contention between top two CBS commentators, Pat Summerall and Scully. Eventually, both filled up for each other’s absence due to other engagements.
• After Summerall was chosen over him as the main announcer alongside Madden for Super Bowl XVI, he became the official announcer for NFC Championship Game along with Stram.
• The increasing tiff between him and CBS led him to leave CBS for NBC in 1983. He instead took up the post of NBC’s lead television broadcaster from 1983 until 1989. During his tenure at the NBC, he did not just call for the Saturday Game of the Week, but also three World Series, four National League Championship Series and four All Star Games. He also witnessed several historic moments while at NBC.
• During his time with NBC, he did not let go off his association with Dodgers. He instead broadcast home games on radio androad games for Dodgers television network.
• His career somewhat had a minor downhill slide during the 1989 season. He first suffered from laryngitis which prevented him from taking up the mic. Later in the year, NBC lost the television rights to cover Major League to CBS.
• His contract with NBC ended the same year after the National League Championship, leaving him to focus all his energies with the Dodgers. He once again served as the national radio announcer for the CBS Radio. In the new capacity, his first assignment was the 1990 World Series.
• He continued at the position in CBS for seven years. Meanwhile, from 1991 to 1996, he broadcast the annual Skins Game for ABC. From 1992 to 2000, he called the Senior Skins Game for ABC as well as various golf events for TBS.
• In 1999, he served as the Master of Ceremonies for MasterCard's Major League Baseball All-Century Team.
• In 2006, the Dodger management reinstated his contract with the club through the 2008 baseball season. Presently, he calls about 100 games per season for both flagship radio station KLAC and television outlets KCAL-TV and Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket.
• On August 23, 2013, the Dodgers announced that Scully would return to the booth in 2014 for his 65th season as team's broadcaster.
• October 2, 2016 marked the final game of Vin Scully's iconic 67-year broadcasting career for the Dodgers and he ended his career the only way it should -- calling a Dodgers-Giants game.

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Awards & Achievements

• In 1976, he was voted as the ‘most memorable personality’ in the history of the franchise by the Dodgers fans.
• In 1982, he was the proud recipient of the Ford Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
• He received the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award for Sportscasting.
• He has been inducted in the Hall of Fame by American Sportscasters Association, National Radio Hall of Fame, NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame.
• He has thrice been named as the National Sportscaster of the Year in 1965, 1978 and 1982. Furthermore, he was 29 times named as the California Sportscaster of the Year. The American Sportscasters Association named him Sportscaster of the Century in 2000 and Top 50 Sportscaster of All-Time in 2009
• In 2009, he was conferred with the Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6675 Hollywood Blvd.
• Recently in 2013, he was named Grand Marshal for the 2014 Tournament of Roses Parade

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Personal Life & Legacy

• He went into the wedlock with Joan Crawford in 1957. However, the relationship lasted for 15 years due to the tragic death of his wife from accidental medical overdose in 1972.
• The following year, i.e. in 1973, he tied the nuptials yet again with Sandra Schaefer who already had two children from her previous marriage. The couple was blessed with a son who passed away at the age of 33 in a helicopter crash.
• He is a devout Roman Catholic

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Trivia

• He was a Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster for 67 years. He had a signature style while introducing the game - “It's time for Dodger baseball! Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good (day/evening) to you, wherever you may be.”

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