Yanks, Mets reflect on Dodger immortal
Members of the Yankees and Mets organizations joined the rest of the baseball world on Wednesday in mourning the death of iconic broadcaster Vin Scully.
The long-time voice of the Dodgers died Tuesday. He was 94.
Scully, who entered baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1982, had a decades-long career after joining the Brooklyn Dodgers’ radio booth in 1950, sticking with the organization during its move to the west coast and through the 2016 season, with a host of highlight moments along the way, from Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965 to Joe Carter’s walk-off home run in the 1993 World Series. And, of course, Mookie Wilson’s ground ball through the legs of Bill Buckner in the ‘86 World Series.
Dodgers team president and CEO Stan Kasten called Scully “an icon” and said in a statement that “his voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever.”
Several members of the local clubs expressed similar sentiments when asked about Scully’s impact before Wednesday’s games.
“I have a romantic relationship with the radio and baseball on the radio,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I love listening to them paint that picture. I remember being part of the broadcast for my first radio game and like, ‘it’s my opportunity to paint that picture.’ I grew up falling asleep at night listening to Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn paint a picture for me.
“I think nobody’s painted the picture better than Vin Scully in baseball. And I think anyone that had the pleasure of coming across him or meeting him, as I was fortunate enough to do many times, his kindness jumped out at you, just resonated with you and stuck with you. And that’s what I’ll remember.
“So, obviously a sad day but I think more an opportunity to celebrate a great man and a giant in sports.”
Mets skipper Buck Showalter also reminisced about meeting Scully.
“Everybody’s been impacted by Vin somewhere along the line. I remember getting on an elevator with him, it’s like he’s your best friend,” Showalter said. “He would call and see what time he could come by my office to talk about our team, because he took so much pride in his broadcast. He’d ask about the team, because he wanted to talk about both teams. He’d leave there totally prepared. It was more than just the home team. He took what he did very seriously.
“The people were listening, and he wanted to make sure he presented an educated front. I was always very impressed with him. As I’ve gotten to hear from other managers, they have a similar story with Mr. Scully. The first time you’re in Dodgertown, there’s certain iconic beings that walked around that place. The reaction of the fans when he would make an appearance was really fun to see. We’ll miss him.”
Trailblazing Yankee broadcaster Suzyn Waldman recalled her first time meeting Scully.
“I got to meet him for the first time when the Yankees went out there to play the Dodgers, 2003 maybe. I was working with YES and he walked into the booth,” Waldman said. “And he was looking for me and he said that you must be Suzyn, right? And I said, Yes. And he said, I just wanted to meet you and congratulate you and I listened to you on the WFAN. He knew everything. He knew everything about me. It was just a magnificent act of kindness, which he didn’t need to do. It was Vin Scully!! But he came looking for me to tell me that I was part of this. It was I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”
Anthony Rizzo, who played a number of high-stakes games against the Dodgers as a member of the Chicago Cubs, also spoke about his memories of the legendary voice of baseball.
“What a great baseball broadcaster. I did get a chance to meet him, played against the Dodgers a lot. I loved just hearing him talk. It’s just so soothing. The way he would tell stories about a game and paint pictures was something else would definitely be missed.”