Announced Tuesday night during a break in the Atlanta Braves-Los Angeles Dodgers game, American Treasure Vin Scully will return for a 66th season as the Voice of the Dodgers. Totally amazing that Vin has called games for that long.
He’ll call all nine innings on SportsNet LA and simulcast the first three innings on radio. As usual, he’ll call all home games and continue to travel to games mostly in the Pacific time zone.
The announcement was made a video “introduced” by SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo and was done in three languages by pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu in his native Korean, outfielder Yasiel Puig in Spanish, and finally in English by infielder Justin Turner. The video was a bit awkward, but it led to a standing ovation from the Dodger Stadium crowd.
Following that, Vin said, “Thank God and please God for another year.”
Vin has called games dating back to 1950 when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. He moved with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958. Scully was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 and has had a storied career.
We have the official press release from the Dodgers and SportsNet LA below.
HALL OF FAME BROADCASTER VIN SCULLY TO RETURN FOR 66th SEASON
LOS ANGELES – Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, an icon in American sports history, will return to the Dodger broadcast booth for an unprecedented 66th season in 2015. The announcement was made by several Dodger players on Dodger Vision during tonight’s game against the Atlanta Braves.
“It is very difficult to say goodbye,” said Scully. “God willing I will be back next year. Over the years I have been blessed to have so many friends including those that sit in the stands and listen as well as those at home, who listen and watch. It is just too hard to say goodbye to all these friends. Naturally there will come a time, when I will have to say goodbye, but I’ve soul-searched and this is not the time.”
Widely regarded as the finest sportscaster of all time, Scully’s 65 years of service mark the longest tenure in his field. He will continue to call all nine innings of the team’s television broadcasts on SportsNet LA, with the first three innings of each of his games also simulcast on the radio.
“I’m obviously not alone in saying that I’m overjoyed Vin will be coming back to the booth in 2015,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten. “Our fans deserve the very best and Vin’s voice, knowledge, experience and passion for broadcasting Dodger baseball are second to none.”
Scully began his professional baseball broadcasting career in 1950 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. During his unmatched career, he has called three perfect games, 25 World Series and 12 All-Star Games. Iconic moments called by Scully include Kirk Gibson’s miraculous Game 1 homer in the 1988 World Series, Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Hank Aaron’s record-setting 715th home run, Sandy Koufax’s four no-hitters, including a perfect game, the scoreless-inning streaks of Dodger greats Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser and just this year, the first career no-hitter by two-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.
When Scully began broadcasting, the Dodgers had yet to win a World Series. Three years later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest person to ever broadcast a World Series game. In 1955, he had his most memorable moment behind the microphone, as he called the Dodgers’ first and only championship in Brooklyn.
In Los Angeles, Scully has called Dodgers World Championships in 1959, ’63, ’65, ’81 and ’88 and he was elected the top sportscaster of the 20th century by the non-profit American Sportscasters Association.
I’m glad he’s returning. I can’t imagine the Dodgers without Vin at the mic.
