hehehehehehe Hey, Rosie. Guess great minds think alike, huh? I just
sent it to him not knowing that you did, as well. :)
Karen
on 09:11 PM 8/30/2016, Rosemarie Chavarria said:
Hi, Linda,
Wow, what a great article. I know baseball won't be quite the same without Vin but I do like Rick Monday and Charlie Steiner too. I'll pass this on to the Wayner.
Rosie
On 8/30/2016 8:23 PM, Linda Gehres wrote:
Subject: Scully humbled by outpouring of love; Legendary broadcaster winds down career as longtime voice of the Dodgers
Scully humbled by outpouring of love; Legendary broadcaster winds down career as longtime voice of the Dodgers
TYLER KEPNER The New York Times
<http://newspapers.web.ca/news/nr/en/The%20Toronto%20Star>The Toronto Star , Aug. 30, 2016
On the rare nights when Vin Scully is not working at Dodger Stadium, the umpires will finish their pre-game meeting at home plate, turn to face the press box and, almost audibly, sigh.
"They look up to the booth and they see me," said Charley Steiner, another Dodgers broadcaster. "They doff their caps, but they hold their palms upward as if to say, 'Where is he?' I'll say, 'that's the best I can do!' " Before long, Scully will leave the booth for good.
He will soon begin the final month of his extraordinary career with the Dodgers, which began in 1950 when the team was based in Brooklyn. All year long in his final season, a charming phenomenon has taken place before games.
Scully, 88, is not only greeted by umpires on the field. A procession of players, managers, coaches and umpires has made the trek - in uniform - up the ballpark elevator or escalators and into the Vin Scully Press Box to say goodbye to the man himself.
"He's the only guy who has the farewell tour come to him," Steiner said. "To see kids one-third of his age go up there wide-eyed and blown away - I think he's every bit as blown away they come up and show that respect."
Bryce Harper, who grew up in Las Vegas and listened to Scully's broadcasts, met with him during the Washington Nationals' visit in June.
Harper - who does a Scully imitation but calls it "terrible" - proudly owns a copy of Scully's broadcast of his major league debut in Los Angeles in 2012.
"He talked about my mom and dad on it, where I was from, said my dad was an ironworker from Vegas, things like that," Harper said. "But growing up, it wasn't just about the game to him. It was about the beauty of the game, the beauty of the fans, how much he could bring the fans together and the Dodgers together, things like that. When you think of the Dodgers, you don't just think about all the greats that played for the Dodgers, you think of Vin Scully as well."
When Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle homered for the Mets in an NBC "Game of the Week" in 1985, Scully mentioned on the air that Hurdle's daughter had been born the night before. Hurdle dutifully made the trip to visit Scully this month, swapping stories and collecting an autographed ball. Gerrit Cole, a Pirates pitcher who went to UCLA, also visited.
Another recent guest was Phillies pitcher Michael Mariot, who came by with his teammates Jerad Eickhoff and David Hernandez. Mariot was born in West Hills, Calif., on Oct. 20, 1988 - the night the Dodgers won their last World Series, with Scully behind the microphone in Oakland.
"My mom said that when she was in labour, it was on TV and my brother and sister were in the room watching, and my dad was watching," Mariot said. "She said I was born within the hour of them winning it."
Mariot, who had never met Scully, took a photo of their moment together.
"I sent it right to my mom and she went nuts," he said.
Giancarlo Stanton, the Miami Marlins' slugging outfielder who grew up in Southern California, made the visit. So did David Ortiz, the designated hitter for the Boston Red Sox, who is also retiring after the season. Scully told Ortiz about hitting bottlecaps with a broomstick as a boy in the streets of New York; Ortiz told Scully about using the head of his sister's doll for batting practice.
Two members of the Baltimore Orioles, Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop, both just 24, had no connection to Scully. Machado grew up in Miami and Schoop is from Curaçao, but they relished the chance to meet him.
"I mean, that's the man," Machado said.
"I heard him when I was younger and I hear him now all the time. I know it's his last year and I just wanted to go up there and get a picture. He's a legend in baseball. I think he'll never be forgotten. Whenever you get an opportunity like that, you've got to take advantage of it."
Schoop found himself strangely nervous on his way to the press box, but he said Scully put him at ease.
"I was shaking a little bit, and as soon as I came in, he called me by my name," Schoop said.
"And as soon as me and Manny got out, I was like not screaming but like: 'Hey, he knew me by my name! He knew everything about me!' It was really cool."
Scully, in comments relayed through the Dodgers, said he was touched by the outpouring of affection.
"Most of the players who come up here are just coming up to meet the man behind the voice, someone that they've been listening to for so many years, and I love it and appreciate that they would take that time out," Scully said.
"Others come up out of the blue just to say hello, just to say they've been listening to the ballgames when they've been playing in the Eastern Division or the Central Division, and they were listening to Dodger games that were beginning when their game was over. I'm just thrilled and humbled by the fact they would make the time to come up."
Scully, who rarely travels, is scheduled to work the final game of the regular season in San Francisco, when the Dodgers play the Giants, Scully's favourite team as a boy. He took pity on the Giants and decided to start rooting for them at age 8, when he saw that they were losing badly in a World Series game to the Yankees.
That game was played on Oct. 2, 1936 - 80 years to the day before Scully's final scheduled broadcast. The visitors and should be pouring in that day, and Scully will deserve and relish them.
"I don't find it sad at all," he said. "I find it a very happy occasion, almost a thanksgiving."
