Exclusive Interview: Jim Hill Sits Down With Vin And Sandy Scully
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — CBS2/KCAL9 Sports Director Jim Hill sat down with Dodgers legend Vin Scully and his wife Sandy on Wednesday to discuss several topics, including the impact his wife has had on him over the years.
The Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully is expected to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers' booth next year after recovering from an unspecified medical procedure that caused him to miss calling the team's postseason match-up against the New York Mets.
Scully, who turns 88 on Nov. 29, told Hill he credits his wife with his ability to continue doing play-by-play for the Dodgers after all these years.
"In order to explain what she has done, you have to realize that I was widowed, and I had three children, all small," Scully said.
"Sandy had been divorced and had two children, all small, so the first project was to get us together. So suddenly, we had five children, and then, suddenly, we had one of ours, a sixth one. Now I'm working, like you [Jim}, out working all the time, because I'm thinking, 'I have six children, I gotta try and help to make some money and help them go to college.'
"But who was there, trying to knit together the fabric of three, really different families. And, Sandy did, and continues to do an incredible job," he added.
Scully then went on to share a secret on how he and his wife have tried to emulate a famous TV family when it came to combining their families.
"What we did Jim, really, in trying to be fair, believe it or not, one of the guidelines for us was 'The Brady Bunch' on television," Scully said. "Not so much for Sandy and me, but for our children, because they would watch 'The Brady Bunch', they would relate to that situation of families melding together."
When asked how it feels to have such an influence over a man the entire city of Los Angeles admires and adores, Sandy Scully told Jim Hill, "I don't feel like I have much influence over him. I think our relationship is separate from his public persona, and I don't know, we're just married. We're happily married!" she added.
"I don't know very many people who could be doing what he is doing, at his tender age, and to do it as well as he's doing it, and as far as what he means to me, he's my life." Scully added.
And as for their marriage's longevity? Both Vin and Sandy pointed to two vital characteristics of their home life: laughter and music.
"We laugh a lot, we sing a lot," said Sandy.
"A lot of Christian songs," Vin added. "She'll be wherever...and I'll say to her, 'You have no idea how beautiful it sounds in a quiet home to hear your wife, the mother of your children, singing these beautiful Christian songs.'"
Sandy even revealed one of her favorite songs of all time - a recording of Vin singing the Bette Midler hit, "Wind Beneath My Wings" that he gave Sandy as a Christmas present one year.
"It was beautiful," she said. "I cried for a month."
"It's a song that really reflects upon our arrangement," said Vin. "I'm out there taking bows, I'm in the spotlight all the time and all that stuff, but that wind, the strength that keeps me up there is not the fame, the adulation, all that stuff.
"It's my wife," he added.
The Los Angeles icon is entering his 67th season - expected to be his last - working for the Dodgers.
In September, Scully was officially authenticated by Guinness World Records as the longest-serving sports broadcaster for any team.
He began working for the Dodgers in 1950, when the team was in still Brooklyn.
