Legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, 94, dies
Legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully died Tuesday night. He was 94.
"We have lost an icon," said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten. "The Dodgers' Vin Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant of a man, not only a broadcaster, but he was a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers."
Scully's 67-year career as the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers began in 1950 when the team was still in Brooklyn. He soon became the team's lead announcer, a position he held for the rest of his career.
He followed the Dodgers after they left Brooklyn for Los Angeles in 1957 and it was in L.A. where Scully solidified his standing in the team's lore, arguably becoming as important as any Dodger player that took the field.
While best known for calling ball games for the Dodgers, he also broadcasted nationally for NBC and CBS.
"His voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever," said Kasten. "I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time. Vin will be truly missed."
Scully's greatness did not go unnoticed having been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995 and named the Top Sportscaster of the Century in 2009.
"He was my role model," said CBSLA's Sports Director Jim Hill. "We all aspired to be like him knowing we couldn't. But it was always wonderful to reach and be like the one and only."
His name was immortalized in Dodger Stadium when the team unveiled the Vin Scully Press Box in 2001.
"As much as a broadcasting icon that he was the sweetest man," CBSLA's Sports Anchor Jamie Maggio said. "I will never forget, one of the first times I was covering a Dodger game... He came, he sat right down at the table next to me and spent about 20 minutes with me and a couple of the other journalists there and just talked."
Maggio added that he recounted old stories and asked everyone there how they were doing.
"I was so touched by that," said Maggio.
The news of Scully's passing hit fans hard Wednesday too as they told CBSLA what an impact he had on them.
"I'm thinking how good he was as a broadcaster and he was the best voice in sports," said Nico Bustus, a Dodgers fan.
Bustus said he cried Wednesday morning on the way over to Dodger Stadium before playing in a youth baseball camp help there.
"I was born in the year that he started with the Dodgers," said Melrose Larry Green, a Dodgers fan. "I was born in 1950."
He said he remembers Vinny at every stage of his career, following him as a fan for decades.
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