http:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/article\/439685\/vin-scully-baseball-storyteller<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
His unique voice is among my very earliest memories, going back to\u00a0when I was first coming to consciousness in San Gabriel, California.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the seven long years of my father\u2019s sad incapacity, following a stroke that suddenly left a very vigorous, active, and bright man blind and acutely\u00a0aware that his intellectual ability had been blunted, Dad listened faithfully to Vin Scully\u2019s radio broadcasts of Dodger games. \u00a0When I first entered the house after Dad\u2019s death in 2003, I saw the schedule of games that his caretaker had affixed to the refrigerator and I saw the chair in which, day after day, night after night, he sat to listen. \u00a0It was too much for me. \u00a0I asked my boys to, please, move it from the room, put it outside. \u00a0Right away.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vin Scully has been an institution for the entirety of my life. \u00a0I can recognize his voice after only a couple of syllables.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Out of all of the many memories of him \u2014 I was seated\u00a0along the first base line at Dodger Stadium in 1962, for example, listening to Vin Scully,\u00a0when Sandy Koufax pitched his first no-hitter \u2014 I again share one that I enjoyed\u00a0with my Dad:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
On 15 October 1988, my family and I were down in southern California visiting my parents for some reason. \u00a0(I can\u2019t recall why; it was during the school year. \u00a0I think that I was giving a paper at a conference.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The World Series had just begun, but (again, for reasons that I can\u2019t quite recall) I hadn\u2019t been watching it. \u00a0My father, however, had it on television. \u00a0The injured Kirk Gibson, hurting in not just one but both legs, was\u00a0called upon to pinch hit.\u00a0\u00a0The Dodgers were trailing 4\u20133. \u00a0The tying run was at first base, but there were two outs and it was the bottom of the ninth inning. \u00a0The Oakland Athletics were the overwhelming favorites to take the Series.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Classic.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked into the room to watch the end of the game and to endure the probable Dodger defeat with my Dad. \u00a0I remember commenting that, if this were a movie, the aging, injured slugger would hit a home run, and the Dodgers would win the game as he hobbled around the bases to a standing ovation and a deafening roar. \u00a0(The Natural<\/em>, with Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs, had come out in 1984.)<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the count on Gibson quickly moved to 0-2. \u00a0And his swings looked weak, awkward. \u00a0The runner stole second base. \u00a0Gibson kept fouling things off. \u00a0The count went to 3-2. \u00a0He was still there. \u00a0He was still alive. \u00a0And then . . .<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=U157X0jy5iw<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a truly great moment. \u00a0And I shared it with my Dad and with Vin Scully.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
May God bless them both.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
(By the way, the Dodgers, perhaps propelled by that fantastic home run, went on to win the World Series 4-1.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I actually found myself unexpectedly tearing up just a bit at George Will\u2019s eloquent tribute to the great Vin Scully: \u00a0 http:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/article\/439685\/vin-scully-baseball-storyteller \u00a0 His unique voice is among my very earliest memories, going back to\u00a0when I was first coming to consciousness in San Gabriel, California. \u00a0 In the seven long years of my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>