LOS ANGELES – Dodger’s Hall of Fame Announcer Vin Scully will end his career as he narrates the last go-round on Monday.
Scully’s career began in 1950 when he called Brooklyn Dodgers game. This 88-year-old witnessed and shared with us some of the most amazing moments in the history of baseball.
Kirk Gibson’s homer
Gibson running around the bases with his both legs injured is one of the most memorable moments in baseball. It was the 1988 World Series. In game one, Dodgers were down a run to the Oakland Athletics in the ninth inning and Gibson came forward with this extraordinary hit.
Scully said:” High fly ball into right field. She is gone.” After that silence ensued. Moreover, he added:” In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.”
Hank Aaron’s 715th home run
Hank Aaron broke a record held by Babe Ruth on April 8, 1974. Scully addressed the crowd:”What a marvelous moment for baseball, what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia, what a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly for Henry Aaron.”
A perfect game from Larsen
The only perfect game in World Series is marked by Don Larsen in 1956. The New York Yankees played against Brooklyn and Scully was again best of the best. He said:”Well, all right, let’s all take a deep breath as we go to the most dramatic ninth inning in the history of baseball.”
It is said that the Yankee Stadium is “shivering in its concrete foundation.”
After Larsen Struck out Mitchell as the last play of the game Vin Scully announced:”Got him! The greatest game ever pitched in baseball history by Don Larsen, a no-hitter, a perfect game in a World Series.”
Furthermore, he explained how different a perfect game is when it is during the regular season and during the World Series:” When you put it in a World Series, you set the biggest diamond in the biggest ring.”
Buckner’s mistake
Boston Red Sox played against the New York Mets in 1986, and this game was a thriller. They were unlucky since they had a 5-3 lead in Game 6 and Buckner’s mistake would prove to be crucial.
It was Mookie Wilson’s turn. Scully said:” Little roller up along first. Behind the bag. It gets through Buckner! Here comes (Ray) Knight and the Mets win it.”
The Mets won it in Game 7.
Koufax’s perfect game
Sandy Koufax had a perfect game against Chicago Cubs on Sept 9, 1965, and Scully was there to witness it all. Scully described how Koufax backed off the mound in the ninth inning. He said:”mops his forehead, runs his left index along his forehead, wipes it off on his left pants leg, all the while (Harvey) Kuenn just waiting.”
When Kuenn struck out, Scully was patient and at first, he was silent, letting the loud crowd speak for him. But he returned and said:” On the scoreboard in right field it is 9:46 p.m. in the City of Angels, Los Angeles, California. A crowd of 29,139 just sitting in to see the only pitcher in baseball history to hurl four no-hit, no-run games …”
“Sandy Koufax, whose name will always remind you of strikeouts, did it with a flourish. He struck out the last six consecutive batters. So when he wrote his name in capital letters in the record book, that ‘K’ stands out more than the ‘oufax,” he added.
The baseball will no longer be the same when Vin Scully retires
