Vin Scully (Plaschke's column)

[fan_since79]

Another great Vin Scully story, about the 1988 World Series and that famous home run:

 

Scully recounted the wonderful story of how the injured Gibson was listening to him on television while icing his legs in the training room. Gibson heard Scully pronounce him out of the game, and took it as a personal challenge.

 

"My greatest contribution in all my years with the Dodgers was getting Gibby off the training table at the end of the game," Scully said. "Whatever happened, it struck a note, and Gibby got up and hollered, 'Tell Tommy [Lasorda] I'll be there.' Next thing you know, he comes down and . . . magic."

 

http://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-scully-plaschke-20160326-column.html

 

 

[nando714]

I was watching the Dodgers and Giants game last night and vin just didn't sound the same

Maybe he's in spring training too.

[Wallerrrr]

He obviously has not been as sharp in recent years but still best ever. Always love hearing him call a game...

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Considering his age, it isn't reasonable to expect him to sound the same. He will always be one of the all time great broadcasters.

[ELEVEN]

Baseball season doesn't begin until I hear his voice.

[Angel Oracle]

66 years on the Raviners announcing team, going into 2016.....unbelievable

[California Cajun]

I'd like to see an Angel broadcaster establish a similar legacy. Was hoping it was going to be Dick Enberg but his career took another direction.

[ukyah]

scully is the greatest of all time. he's the babe ruth of sports broadcasting. i'm saying that with 100% sincerity.

[Angel Oracle]

To show how ridiculous 66 years is, if Enberg had stayed here the whole time, he would have put in 47 seasons currently. 

Bob Miller, until the bypass surgery, has worked with the Kings for 42+ seasons (not counting the season wiped out by strike).

Edited March 28, 2016 by Angel Oracle

[m0nkey]

I was watching the Dodgers and Giants game last night and vin just didn't sound the same

Maybe he's in spring training too.

So he's not in the best shape of his life?

[LAAFANofLA]

Vin rocks, but Bill is an absolute dip wad. I won't click any article written by that doofus

[ukyah]

Vin rocks, but Bill is an absolute dip wad. I won't click any article written by that doofus

 

 

me too

[WeatherWonk]

Vinny's voice now has a certain "warble" to it, and he isn't quite as sharp. But he still announces rings around most other baseball announcers. If you have the MLB package or the Sirius/XM package, you can hear ALL the visiting teams announcers. Vinny is still top five, IMO. My favorite current baseball announcer is the Indians Tom Hamilton.

 

We have been very fortunate, those of us who grew up in SoCal in the 60s-70s-80s. We were able to listen to the two finest announcers in ANY sport in Scully and Chick Hearn.

 

As much as I love to hear Scully call games over the years. I dont think there has been a more influential announcer in ANY sport than Chick Hearn. So many of his Chickisms have become standards in describing basketball. And his interchange with his broadcasting partners (Hundley, Keith Erickson, Stu Lantz, Lynn Shakleford, even Pat Riley was his partner for a stint) was always entertaining, even if you sometimes felt Chicky Baby could be a bit of a dick. I sometimes thought to myself, "poor Marge" (his wife that he often referred to).

 

Sorry for the bit of a hijack, but here is one of the most thorough list of Chickisms I have found, including their interpretations, Taken off an old "text only" board from way back.

 

http://forums.lakersground.net/togo/thread.php?topic_id=53868

[Stradling]

Vinny's voice now has a certain "warble" to it, and he isn't quite as sharp. But he still announces rings around most other baseball announcers. If you have the MLB package or the Sirius/XM package, you can hear ALL the visiting teams announcers. Vinny is still top five, IMO. My favorite current baseball announcer is the Indians Tom Hamilton.

We have been very fortunate, those of us who grew up in SoCal in the 60s-70s-80s. We were able to listen to the two finest announcers in ANY sport in Scully and Chick Hearn.

As much as I love to hear Scully call games over the years. I dont think there has been a more influential announcer in ANY sport than Chick Hearn. So many of his Chickisms have become standards in describing basketball. And his interchange with his broadcasting partners (Hundley, Keith Erickson, Stu Lantz, Lynn Shakleford, even Pat Riley was his partner for a stint) was always entertaining, even if you sometimes felt Chicky Baby could be a bit of a dick. I sometimes thought to myself, "poor Marge" (his wife that he often referred to).

Sorry for the bit of a hijack, but here is one of the most thorough list of Chickisms I have found, including their interpretations, Taken off an old "text only" board from way back.

http://forums.lakersground.net/togo/thread.php?topic_id=53868

This is great, thank you for posting.

[WeatherWonk]

Actually, in looking at the Wikipedia entry on Chickie Baby, they have a very good list of Chickisms, too. Maybe better.

 

The one that I dont see mentioned (that I first heard from Chick) was the alley-oop shot. I was certain that was one of his making, but maybe not. Nowadays, announcers use alley-oop to describe the pass at rim height that is slam-dunked. Chick also used it to describe a shot that is usually lofted by a smaller player over a larger player. Similar, but not the same, as his "leapin' Lena" shot.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_Hearn

 

Really, Chick was so good, that he was perfect for the "simulcast"; where an announcer's voice is used for radio and TV. You felt like you were watching the game on radio, when Chick was calling it. His diction, at the speed he spoke, was just incredible. He also started "losing it" a bit in the last 5 or so years. Well, he was 80. All of us will wish we could communicate like him, at that age.

 

Final note; I have never seen it written, but I DID hear Chick put a game in the refrigerator that the Lakers lost. He was partnered with Stu Lantz at the time, and I couldnt belive that Stu didnt call him on it, during the post game show. Stu sometimes seemed to be "rooting" for the Lakers to lose a game that was "in the refrigerator", just to be able to call Chick out on it. Then, it happened, and he said nothing.

 

I've often imagined that during the commercial break between the end of the game and the post game show, Chick turned to Stu and said, "dont you bring it up, you mo-fo". Chick had a big ego and was a strong personality. He was the face of the organization in many ways. You did what Chick said.