Unless you are pushing 70 years of age, the only Dodger broadcaster you have ever known is Vin Scully – and Vin Scully is the undisputed best there has ever been. Anyone who doesn’t understand or accept this is either insanely jealous that Vin Scully is not their favorite team’s broadcaster or they are just plain clueless.

Vin Scully at the home opener at Dodger Stadium on April 4, 2014.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Today, November 29, Scully celebrates his 87th birthday, and anyone who is fortunate enough to know the man personally knows that he would prefer to celebrate it as quietly and modestly as possible – although his lovely wife Sandi and their many grand kids may have more to say about this than the Hall of Fame broadcaster himself.

Vincent Edward Scully was born on this date in 1927 in the Bronx, New York and grew up in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan. He spent his early years delivering beer and mail, pushing garment racks, and cleaning silverware in the basement of the Pennsylvania Hotel in New York City. Scully’s father worked as a silk salesman and his mother, a staunch Roman Catholic, was a homemaker of Irish descent from whom her son inherited his red hair. Scully attended high school at the Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx and he knew at a very young age that he wanted to become a sports announcer because of his fascination with football broadcasts on the radio.

In 1950, Scully joined famed broadcasters Red Barber and Connie Desmond in the Brooklyn Dodgers radio booth. He took over for Barber in 1953 after the longtime broadcaster got into a salary dispute and left to become the Yankees play-by-play man. As a result, the now 25-year-old Scully became the youngest man to broadcast a World Series game – a record that still stands today.

Red Barber, Connie Desmond and Vin Scully.
(AP photo)

Like many New Yorkers, Scully was shocked when Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley announced that he was moving the team to Los Angeles in 1958. Knowing his popularity with Dodger fans, O’Malley pleaded with Scully to move west with the team, which he reluctantly agreed to do. Keep in mind that Scully had spent his entire life in New York. O’Malley’s decision to bring Scully with him to Los Angeles was arguably the best decision he ever made, as Scully immediately became a huge favorite among new L.A. Dodger fans. Just how important was this decision for O’Malley? Simply put, Dodger Stadium might not have been built were it not for Vin Scully.

Because of ongoing political battles and endless civil litigation, it took a ballot referendum among L.A. County voters to approve the construction of Dodger Stadium in Chavez Ravine – an area just north of downtown Los Angeles that was earmarked for redevelopment for low-incoming housing. Proposition B was passed by voters on June 3, 1958 by the slimmest of margins – 351,683 in favor to 325,898 opposed, a difference of only 25,785 votes. Had the ballot measure failed, the Dodgers, in all likelihood, would have moved elsewhere – quite possibly Minneapolis, which was lobbying hard for an MLB team at the time and eventually landing the Washington Senators and renaming them the Twins.

Although Scully never entered into the politics of the situation, there is little doubt that his relationship with Dodger fans had a direct impact on the outcome of the ballot measure, thus clearing the way for the construction of Dodger Stadium.

In 1982 Scully received the Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame. His many other honors and awards include a Life Achievement Emmy Award for sportscasting and induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. He has been named as the National Sportscaster of the Year by the The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association three times (1965, 1978, 1982) and California Sportscaster of the Year 29 times, and was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 1991. In 1992 Scully was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame, which also named him Sportscaster of the Century in 2000 and top sportscaster of all-time in 2009. The California Sports Hall of Fame inducted Scully in 2008 and the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame did so in 2009. On May 11, 2009 Scully was awarded the Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission. MLB Network’s series Prime 9 named Scully as the greatest baseball broadcasters of all-time, followed (in order) by Mel Allen, Red Barber, Jack Buck, Ernie Harwell, Harry Kalas, Harry Caray, Phil Rizzuto and Curt Gowdy.

Scully’s Ford C. Frick plaque at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

On June 9, 1982, Scully was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (located at 6683 Hollywood Bl.) and in 2001 the press box at Dodger Stadium was re-named the Vin Scully Press Box in his honor. On January 1, 2014, Scully, accompanied by his wife Sandi, was the Grand Marshal of the 125th Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA.

During his farewell tour, outgoing MLB commissioner Bud Selig presented Scully with the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award at Dodger Stadium on September 5, 2014. Scully was the 14th recipient of this prestigious award and only the second non-player to receive it. The award was created to recognize accomplishments and contributions of historical significance to the game of baseball.

Scully is only the second non-baseball player to receive the prestigious Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award, joining Rachel Robinson. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

During each game of the final series of the 2014 regular season at Dodger Stadium, Scully expressed his appreciation to Dodger fans by holding up a sign that read “You’re the Best!” and saluting them. I defy you to name one other broadcaster who has ever done this.

No, Vin – You’re the Best.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka – Click on photo to enlarge)

Happy Birthday, Vin – and many, many more.