Longtime and legendary broadcaster Vin Scully died Tuesday, the Dodgers announced. He was 94 years old.
“He was the voice of the Dodgers, and so much more. He was their conscience, their poet laureate, capturing their beauty and chronicling their glory from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax, Kirk Gibson to Clayton Kershaw. Vin Scully was the heartbeat of the Dodgers – and in so many ways, the heartbeat of all of Los Angeles,” the team said in a statement.
“Vin Scully was the heartbeat of the Dodgers — and in so many ways, the heartbeat of all of Los Angeles.”
Scully, who called various nationally televised football and golf contests for CBS Sports from 1975 to 1982, started his broadcasting career in 1949 after attending Fordham University, where he studied journalism and was a student broadcaster. He joined the Dodgers radio and television booths in the 1950 season, when they were still in Brooklyn. Scully came with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958 and stayed with the club until his retirement in 2016.
He also worked national broadcasts for Major League Baseball, the NFL, the PGA Tour and also worked for NBC Sports from 1983-89.
“Today we mourn the loss of a legend in our game,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Vin was an extraordinary man whose gift for broadcasting brought joy to generations of Dodger fans. In addition, his voice played a memorable role in some of the greatest moments in the history of our sport. I am proud that Vin was synonymous with Baseball because he embodied the very best of our National Pastime. As great as he was as a broadcaster, he was equally great as a person.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to Vin’s family, friends, Dodger fans and his admirers everywhere.”
Scully’s most famous NFL call came with CBS in 1982, as he was on play-by-play for Joe Montana’s touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the NFC Championship game. Or, as it came to be called, simply, The Catch:
Also while with CBS, Scully was part of the broadcast team tasked with calling The Masters from 1975-82.
Perhaps Scully’s most famous baseball call came in the 1988 World Series, when a hobbled Kirk Gibson came through with a pinch-hit, walk-off home run in Game 1:
Scully was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick Award winner in 1982 and received the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award from Bud Selig in 2014. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
Scully and his second wife, Sandra, were married for 48 years before her passing on Jan. 3, 2021. Scully had four children, two stepchildren, 16 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
“We have lost an icon,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. “The Dodgers’ Vin Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant of a man, not only as a broadcaster, but as a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers. And he loved his family. His voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever. 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.”
