Longtime and legendary broadcaster Vin Scully died Tuesday, the Dodgers announced. He was 94 years old.
“He was the voice of the Dodgers and more. He was their conscience, their poet laureate, capturing their beauty and describing their glory, from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax, from Kirk Gibson to Clayton Kershaw. Vin Scully was their heartbeat. 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 national football and golf events for CBS Sports from 1975 to 1982, began his broadcasting career in 1949 after attending Fordham University, where he studied journalism and was a student broadcaster. He joined the radio and television booths for the Dodgers during the 1950 season while they were still in Brooklyn. Scully came to Los Angeles with the Dodgers in 1958 and remained with the club until his retirement in 2016.
He also worked in national broadcasting for Major League Baseball, the NFL and the PGA Tour, and also worked for NBC Sports from 1983-1989.
“Today we mourn the loss of a legend of our game,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “Vin was an extraordinary man whose gift for broadcasting delighted generations of Dodger fans. In addition, his voice played a memorable role in some of the greatest moments in our sports history. I am proud that Vin was synonymous with baseball because he embodied the best of our national pastime. As great as he was as a broadcaster, , he was also 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 when he made a play on Joe Montana’s pass to Dwight Clark in the NFC Championship Game. Or, as it came to be called, simply catch:
Also at CBS, Scully was part of the broadcast team tasked with calling The Masters from 1975-1982.
Perhaps Scully’s most famous baseball call came in the 1988 World Series when slugger Kirk Gibson hit a pinch-hit home run in the first game:
Scully was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 as the Ford C. Frick Award winner and received the Commissioner’s Historical 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 she died on January 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. “Vin Scully of the Dodgers 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 ours. on everyone’s minds. I know he was looking forward to being reunited with the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this difficult time. Vin will be truly missed.”
