With the death yesterday of the inimitable Vin Scully comes endless memories, led by his use of language

When I got up early this morning, I walked slowly, still half asleep to my desk. There was a note left behind by my wife with three words, “Vin Scully died.” It took a few seconds to absorb. As my eyes welled up, I immediately asked myself, where do I start? I hadn’t cried liked this since the death of my dad 35 years ago.

Bottom line. Sports’ best ever announcer had so much to give and did. Beginning in the early 80s, I kept lots of notes covering his amazing descriptions, perfect intonation, articulation and pitch. El Perfecto to say the least! A God given gift.

I was doing business with KABC Radio at the time and got to know one of its executives Cliff Levine. On one of my trips to LA, Cliff introduced me to his son, Ken Levine, who himself did some MLB broadcasting, Seattle, San Diego and Baltimore.

One project on which Ken and I collaborated on was listing Vin’s rich use of the language. When apt, he came up with the best word and seamlessly so. We printed it on these digital pages in 2018

So on this day, the morning after the great man’s death, SBJ is re-running the piece – as a first in our tribute! We’ll also be hearing from Curt Smith, the Voices of the Game who also did a bio on Scully.

Vin Scully dies at 94; Born November 29, 1927, Died August 2, 2022. Rest in peace.

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Like music aficionados studying notes of classical composers or art devotees examining strokes of the old masters, some seriously aspiring play-by-play announcers break down the brilliant work of the great sportscasting architects. They’re hoping to pick up  the finer points for instructional purposes; be it about voice inflections, proper pausing, descriptive phrasing, spinning yarns or delivering punchlines.

No one in play-by-play history did it any better than Vin Scully, a once in a century talent who was born with a gift; nurtured it, strengthened it and perfected it. Vin always had a fitting, economized and concise call. He always worded it extemporaneously, in ways that served a broad audience; from the erudite to the blue collar. No constituency felt left out.  He was loved by the professorial types on the campuses and the guys getting their hands greasy under the hood. In that way, Vin Scully defined sophistication.

Ken Levine, an award winning Hollywood scriptwriter, himself a fine MLB play-by-play announcer with San Diego, Seattle and Baltimore, grew up in Los Angeles.

He studied Scully and we collectively bundled a list of 100 adages, descriptive phrases and aphorisms that Scully adlibbed through his 67 years on-air. (My apologies to Vin if there are a few off kilter.)

-Halberstam

Collection of Scullyisms:

1. Today the crowd is like wallpaper

2. The fans are screaming themselves weak

3. A flame burns brightest just before it goes out.

4. The photographers have formed a crescent shaped moon as they snap away at the dignitaries on the field

5. He finished the game on a whimper/flourish

6. (Weddings and celebrations): They never grow old

7. Statistics are used the way a drunk uses a lamppost, for support not for illumination

8. The roar of the crowd is always sweet music.

9. Fans are booing lustily

10. The crowd is getting somewhat mutinous

11. A pleasant zephyr is wafting toward right field

12. He’s looking to break the shackles of a galling slump

13. It’s a steamy day and fans in the bleachers are using their scorecards to fan themselves. From here it looks like a thousand butterflies

14. Wigwags a sign

15. He said something untoward to the umpire

16. Breaking the hearts of all of Los Angeles

17. As the song goes, ‘Saturday night is the loneliest night of the year.’ But not tonight at Dodger Stadium, when the Giants are in town

18. It was one of those things that he won’t forget. It stuck to his ribs.

19. Fans screaming for all their worth

20. (Vin tells a man in an elevator who’s about to get married): Marriage is man’s most optimistic undertaking

21. Bless his heart

22. (Impossible situation for a relief pitch)  You wouldn’t turn over this spot to a leopard

23. The mound is now the loneliest place in the world

24. (Final weeks of his career when Vin’s being interviewed endlessly): My suit is fading because of too much spotlight

25. (A player listed as day-to-day): Aren’t we all?

26. Pull up a chair. It’s just the start of things.

27. (Long silence as crowd roars after Vin called Henry Aaron’s record breaking homerun): I do what I do best. I shut up.

28. Quivering like a horse shaking off a bothersome fly

29. The only thing I hate is the loneliness of the road

30. The roar of the crowd is intoxicating

31. (Kirk Gibson grand-slam): He used the bat as a cane as he walked to the plate

32. (Gibson homerun): In the year of the improbable the impossible happened

33. (The photographers are flashing away under a clear nighttime sky.):  It’s like opening a jewel box. The stadium is sparkling

34. (Milwaukee-St. Louis World Series – 2 beer capitals): There will be no bad hops in this series

35. In the shadow, he (the pitcher) looks like 6 o’clock on the mound

36. (After Fernando Valenzuela’s no-hitter): If you have a sombrero toss it to the sky

37. On radio you’re a puncher. On television, you’re a counter puncher

38. The crowd is now emptying its lungs

39. He’s jumping up and down like he was standing on burning coal

40. This series has turned into an emotional rollercoaster

41. In this din, the manager in the dugout can’t get the attention of the umpire. It’s like the guy in the balcony winking at the showgirl

42. (Talking about an old-timer): He’s in great shape. He looks great. He still has a washboard stomach

43. He waved the lamb chop in front of the wolf

44. The crowd seeing it with its heart not its eyes

45. The skies are a pewter gray

46. (As the Dodgers were about to be quickly eliminated from a playoff series in St. Louis): The Dodgers will tiptoe their way home

47. He runs his fingers through his black hair, tugs at the bill of his cap and fusses with the pants at the waste

48. (Great catch by a leaping outfielder, elongating his arm and bending his hand backward over the wall): He goaltended it!

49. (In LA on opening day under sunny conditions and temperatures in the 70s): The out of town scoreboard reads more like a weather report; the Mets at Philadelphia postponed snow – Cleveland at Baltimore – postponed freezing rain

50. He’s pitching so quickly, you would think he was double-parked

51. As long as you live, keep smiling. It brightens everyone’s day

52. It’s a great time of year, if you can stand it!

53. I guess my thermometer for baseball fever is still a goose bump.

54. If you want to make God smile, tell him your plans.

55. You can almost taste the pressure now

56. Good is not good when better is expected

57. Don’t let the winds blow your dreams away

58. Don’t be afraid to dream, because it can happen.

59. The Dodgers have been such a .500 team this season, they might even find a way to split a three-game series.

60. Some people die twice: once when they retire, and again when they actually pass away. Fear of the first one is a big incentive for me to keep working.

61. The sky is a cerulean blue.

62. Squeeze the juice out of life before life squeezes the juice out of you.

63. He toppled over like a statue.

64. (The Astrodome): The great indoors of Texas.

65. There are so many injuries the team photo looks like an X-Ray

66. (Re: Yasiel Puig): The wild horse is loose.

67. (Re: a knuckle ball): It looks like a ping pong ball coming out of a revolving door

68. He swung at an echo.

69. (An outfielder at the wall trying to make an impossible catch): Like someone in a dark closet reaching with one arm to get his bearings

70. (Rollie Finger’s handlebar moustache): He looks like a man in search of a barbershop quartet

71. The catcher is shuffling cards behind the plate

72. (With a 2-2 count, 2 on, any combination of 2s): Deuces wild

73. (After a lopsided loss): It’s best to just walk away from the wreckage

74. (The shaky pitcher): He’s walking on a tightrope in a typhoon

75. (A player who had a big game yesterday but went 0-5 today): He went from the penthouse to the cellar

76. It sounded like he hit that with the morning paper

77. (A pitcher in trouble): He must feel like alligators are nipping at his heels

78. He was gesturing like a Philadelphia lawyer

79. (The leaping infielder): he had to go up the ladder to get it.

80. Nothing but goose eggs on the scoreboard

81. Nothing but smoke rings on the scoreboard

82. (A picked-off runner): He was hung out to dry

83. The pitcher threw a little soap-bubble over to first

84. (A reliable hitter who drove in runs): The butter and egg man

85. (A player doing well): The big man on campus

86. (Strong forearms): Like Popeye’s.

87. (After Don Drysdale kicks the dirt): Drysdale is so mad he almost kicked 20 feet of the Coliseum out of the park

88. He’s so angry, he’s appealing to the gods

89. He’s hot and his head is jerking a mile a minute

90. (Umpire surrounded by an angry contingent of players, coaches and the manager): Umpire Ed Sudol is in the midst of lions

91. (Angry manager after disputed home run call determined to hit the foul pole): The veins on both sides of his neck are bulging like the cables that hold up the leftfield screen

92. (Giants manager Bill Rigney angry over a call): He’s so angry. He’s about ready to eat his eyeglasses

93. (Dodger manager Walter Alston winning an argument with an umpire): He walks away like a Philadelphia lawyer who has just won his case

94. (Argument continues) He slams his hat down and his gray hair is glistening under the lights

95. (Argument continues) Rigney with a big sweeping gesture

96. (Argument continues) He bows at the waste with a sweeping right hand

97. (Argument continues) He’s gesturing like a mad traffic cop

98. (Argument begins to conclude): Manager Rigney walks away with a hopeless gesture

99. (Arguing concludes after umpires change their minds twice): Willie Mays is at second base with the loudest double ever heard in Southern California

100. (93,000 fans in the Coliseum light matches in prayer and tribute for paralyzed Roy Campanella):The matchlights are starting to come out like thousands of fireflies