Sports Illustrated on Vin

Plenty of people write features on Scully…few hit the nail on the head as well as SI’s Joe Posnanski did with this piece.

And thanks to everyone for their input on the last post…we’ll take it to heart and see what we can do for the blog next season (and during the offseason).

Hope to see some of you out here for the final weekend…it’s sad to say that, as we’ve all gotten used to the postseason around here these last couple years, but such is life.

 

50 comments

  1. thinkingblue

    Josh, you are very welcome! Vin is the best and L.A. loves, him, SoCal loves him, all of the DodgerNation loves him and even people that love baseball also love and respect Vin Scully!

    Emma – Wow and it’s been almost 20 years of the 1981 World Series. Dodgers should celebrate that WIN with another win. It will be a great 20 year anniversary gift! 2011 should be a great year.

  2. crzblue2

    Thanks Josh for the article! I just finished reading it. I kept getting interruptions with email breaks but in my mind I was saying “Don’t bother me now, I am reading.” 🙂
    .
    It was a wonderful read. At the end my eyes got misty. Joe Posnanski is right when he said at the end T”he heart of Los Angeles is his voice.”
    .
    I love the interruptions and Vin retelling his stories. They never get old. As I am reading the article where Joe is walking down Hollywood blvd noting the star names, I was remembering being there taking pictures. I still have those pictures somewhere…
    .
    VIN SCULLY! WE LOVE YOU!”
    .
    Emma
    http://crzblue.mlblogs.com

  3. crzblue2

    Rosie,
    It will be 30 years next year since the 1981 Wold Series.
    .
    In November of 1980, I droved to Dodger Stadium and told the receptionist that I wanted to become a season ticket holder. A young man showed me a seat in the LOGE (aisle 103, row N, seat 3) and I said “I’ll take it!” It was a wild ride with Fernando, the strike and culminating with the World Series. i used be very shy back then. i would get to my seat, cheer and because I was by myself, I tought myself how to keep score following the program.
    .
    After a few games, an older lady that used to sit in back of me introduced herself to me. She also had ONE season ticket. I remember her name “Winifred” She also had Laker season tickets so when she was at a Laker game, I would buy her ticket and take turns bringing one of my little cousins.
    .
    OK, sorry for the long post down memory lane.
    Emma
    http://crzblue.mlblogs.com

  4. mrtbksla@pacbell.net

    Vin Scully is the absolute best thing about the Dodgers. I love to listen to him call a game and share his amazing knowledge of baseball, even in a crappy year when the Dodgers are losing.

    I discovered the Dodgers in 1959, when they played in and won the World Series. Our fifth grade teacher brought a television into the classroom, and we all watched, entranced. I remember Larry Sherry and Johnny Podres and John Roseboro, but most of all, I remember the voice of Vin Scully. And now, fifty-one years later, I’m still listening to him.

    I will always be a Dodger fan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I watch fewer games after Vin retires–which I hope isn’t until he is at least 90–and I feel a little sad in saying that. He is such an integral part of the Dodger experience for me–and I’m sure for many other fans.

  5. lbirken@aol.com

    Josh, thanks for posting the article. There is just something about Vinny’s voice that makes the world tolerable for a short period of time. It is almost as if he was put on this earth for the sole purpose of broadcasting. He is at his best when he tells the stories, throws in bits of poetry, gives praise to an otherwise everyday player’s “marching and chowder society” and all the other little things he brings to a game. He is at his very best when he calls not only the game he is broadcasting but one or two others at the same time, never missing a beat.

    mrbksla, I too have fond memories of that 1959 World Series doing the same thing you were doing in elementary school. Our teacher let us watch as well.

  6. oldbrooklynfan

    Hi everybody
    Only 3 games to go for our guys.
    I’m just looking for two sweeps, one for the Dodgers and one for the Padres.
    GO GUYS!!!!!!

  7. nellyjune

    How I would love to show the post season in the classroom, but with the games all in primetime, with perhaps the exception of a weekend day game perhaps, it can’t be done anymore. However, with our technology in the classroom and MLB.com, it is possible to watch the game the next day, but it kind of loses its affect. The last two years, I have shown highlights of all the games on the post season. This year I will do the same, but it won’t be the same without the Dodgers in there 😦

    Josh – Thanks for posting the link to that article. Vinny = Dodgers Baseball

  8. nellyjune

    Question for the rules experts.

    The Braves lost tonight to the Phillies, putting them a game ahead of the Padres in the NL Wild Card Race. The Padres are beating the gnats so far. So, if the Padres win out and tie the gnats for the division and they also tie for the WC, do they have a tie breaker game, or does the division go to the team with the better series record?

  9. nellyjune

    Oldbrooklynfan – I’ve been watching, but it hasn’t felt the same since we were mathematically eliminated. Other than for personal goals, it’s all for nothing at the moment 😦

    GO DODGERS!!!!!

  10. cpompe1

    Good evening ITD boys and girls!
    OBF ? If SD and SF end the season with a tie, then a tie-breaker game will be played on Monday in SD to determine which team wins the NL West.

    Now, the WC is different. If Atlanta ends the year with a better record than SF or SD, Atlanta is the WC winner. But if there is a 3 way tie, it used to be that the loser of the SF/SD tie breaker is out of the playoffs. MLB used to do that because (1) the tie-breaking game is part of the regular season record and (2) since the loser between SF/SD has ?one more loss? (than Atlanta, for example) then the loser between SF/SD would be out of the playoffs.

    My husband and I both think that MLB did away with that rule, but we still don?t know how the WC is determined. And I would guess that if SF/SD already has a better record than Atlanta, than I would guess that the SD/SF loser would be the WC winner, but I?m not entirely sure.

    Sufficiently confused? I am?

  11. cpompe1

    Okay Nelly, I didn?t even notice that! Sorry! But hey, since I posted what I did, I looked around and found this:

    If there is a tie for a division and the losing team is assured of winning the wild card, there is no one-game playoff and the team that won the season series between the teams is named the division champion. If the teams split their season series equally, the team with the better record within the division wins the title. And if they’re still tied, the team with the better record in the final 81 games is declared the winner. If they’re still tied, that scenario is extended back to 82 games, 83 games, 84 games, etc.

  12. nellyjune

    Thanks CP!!! I will tell my hubby. I asked, and he thought it would be an automatic tie-breaker game. I told him there is a reason the series records are important within our division, and that is why – thanks!!!!

  13. cpompe1

    Not a prob Nelly! So how are you this evening? Yes, I just noticed that the Dodgers just lost the game. Oh well, so much for ending the season at 500. Oh well, this 2010 season has been underwhelming anyways. I?m just hoping that they can at least win Sunday?s game when my mom and I will be there!

  14. Dodger4life

    I love Vinny, I went years without hearing him call a game.
    .
    When I look upon my life, in general, Vinny is a good barometer to be gauged by. Not to say that I could ever fill his shoes, so to speak… But the time spent, emulating, even a day in his world……..would be a day, spent in a prosperous and worthwhile manner. Mr. Scully has done the world a great deal of good, point blank! We as patrons of the great city of L.A. should cherish, what we have. Not just today or tomorrow, but forever……We should look at the life Vinny has given us as a God send……and do, due dilegence to him and the Dodgers to never …..never forsake what he has worked so hard for.
    .

    Vinny, Your just a voice……..But your voice and demeaner is an institution…………..One that should be embedded long, long after you have called your last hurrah!!
    ;
    Vinny I for one, look at you, as one of the pattern’s to set the standards, I choose to live my life by…..Thank you.

  15. nedajerk

    Oct 2 LHP Hong-Chih Kuo pitched a scoreless eighth inning, despite the Dodgers trailing 7-5 at the time, lowering his ERA to 1.22 for the year. With one more scoreless inning, Kuo will set the Dodgers all-time franchise ERA record (minimum 50 innings) at 1.2000, just better than Eric Gagne’s 1.2024 in 2003. “Acting manager” Brad Ausmus said he was aware of the record, and that’s why he pitched.

  16. dodgerzona

    Hello…Don’t post very often….Was reading on the LA Times that Logan White is going to be fired…Shown the Door…Big mistake in my opinion…Ned should be the one shown the door
    …You all take care

    Sell The Team

  17. jhallwally

    And the debacle continues!!! Very discouraging!!! I don’t have any hope for the future of our beloved Dodgers if Frank and Ned remain at the helm!!! Go Reds!!! Hope everyone is doing well!!! Take care my friends!!!!

  18. jhallwally

    Thank You Josh for this blog and all you do. Please fix the time warp and submission errors. Otherwise the blog is great.

  19. jhallwally

    Hi’Ya Trumom!!! Very disappointing season but I will not abandon my team or my friends here on ITD!!! Just praying for a change of owners and GM. How’ve you been Trumom?!!!

  20. jhallwally

    I really had to step away for awhile as I was extremely disgusted and angry with the McCourts and our overall play!!! I think what the McCourts have done to our Dodgers is deplorable!!! And that starts with MLB enabling them and their incredibly poor choice of a GM!!! Ned is a baffoon and should not be allowed near a baseball franchise. Same goes for Frank!!!

  21. trublu4ever

    I know how you feel, Jhall. I’ve been reading posts everyday, but, only posting once in a while. I don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said about this season. I’m just hoping the divorce is settled sooner, rather than later, for the sake of our team. No matter what, it will be a highly talked about off-season.

  22. jhallwally

    Yep Trumom, the fate of our team for the next decade at least, is in the hands of the judge!!! God and the judicial system, help us!!!!!

  23. oldbrooklynfan

    Hiya Everybody
    Unbelievable eh?
    The Pods are still alive. HaHa
    Who’woodda’ dunk it?
    Tomorrow’ll be a big day in SF.
    GO PADRES!!!!!
    To bad these teams are more interested in looking at the young players and winning is secondary.
    That’s right no .500 season for the Dodgers.
    GO BILLS!!!!!

  24. cpompe1

    Yes OBF, the Pads are still alive! They still have a lot of hoops to jump thru to get into the playoffs, but at least they made it this far! Our slim hopes are still alive for SF not to make the playoffs!!! But I was hoping that the Braves would make it ? for Bobby?s sake! But the gnats would have to lose Sunday against the Pads, lose Monday against the Pads, and lose Tuesday against the Braves. But the Braves HAVE TO WIN Sunday to make this possible. If the Braves lose Sunday, then there is no game on Monday because the Pads hold the tie-breaker against the gnats and would be the NL West winner and the gnats would be the WC winner.
    GO PADRES!!! GO BRAVES!!!

    And I want my Dodgers to win tonight and tomorrow! Go out with a bang!!!
    GO DODGERS!!!!!!!!!

  25. nedajerk

    Tonight’s coaching staff, under manager Jamey Carroll:
    Bench Coach: Brad Ausmus
    Special Assistant to the Bench Coach: Russell Martin
    Hitting Coach: John Lindsey
    Pitching Coach: Mike Borzello
    Bullpen Coach: Jonathan Broxton

  26. nedajerk

    I forgot about Jansen bday 2 days ago and it so hard to believe he’s only 23 years old and ex president Carter just turned 86th yesterday.

  27. knouffbrock@frontiernet.net

    If the team is in a situation where Ely is seriously considered to be in the rotation, we’re screwed. I do not know what it will take to keep Kuroda or Padilla, or Lilly, but I’d keep all three if I could. Billz and the Kid have shown they can do it. That would be a solid rotation. Odds are, of course, it will not look like that.
    *
    Kemp finally has decided to play some ball. Maybe this will carry over into next year. Maybe he will decide to put forth a year long effort and not go numb between the ears.
    *
    A week ago I went over to Denver to see “Further”, some of the remnants of the Grateful Dead (yeah, I know they are giants fans), and they did the song ” The Wheel”. I started to think it could be about the Dodgers, how time is going by and “couldn’t you try just a little bit harder.”

  28. crzblue2

    Hello ITD!
    I am heading to a restaurant close by to have breakfast with friends before we head to our Blue Heaven on Earth.
    .
    I just wanted to post that it was Maury Wills birthday yesterday. I was giving Maury a baseball card to sign, when he said “Oh I like this one!” I told him to please keep it, so he did after he had already signed. We did tell him happy birthday.
    .
    Thank you for always being nice to us during BP Maury!
    Emma
    http://crzblue.mlblogs.com

  29. trublu4ever

    My perfect day would be: Dodgers win! Padres beat the Giants….Atlanta wins and then forced to play the Giants for WC berth….Giants lose, and are elimated from further action 🙂

  30. Dodger4life

    Good Morning All………….
    .
    Last battle of the year today.
    .
    Even with all that transpired this season, I managed to find some enjoyment through it all.
    .
    To all those retiring…..Thanks
    .
    Lets win the last one Boy’s!!!
    .
    GO DODGERS!!!

  31. kpookiemon

    Last day of season is always a sad time for me. No Vinnie for six months. Bummer. Hated being negative all season, but this franchise cries out for fans’ anger and disgust.

    As far as teams in contention, Yankees losing right now to Bosox, which, if that holds up, will give division to Rays based on head-to-head record. Braves’ Hudson dealing, so hopefully that continues. Is it possible for BOTH Pods and Gnats to miss playoffs? Guess not, huh? So let’s go with burning pitching staffs, have Pods win, force playoffs both Monday and Tuesday, label Gnats as chokers, and then I don’t care who wins, as long as Braves knock one of them out.

  32. perumike

    Good afternoon everyone! Getting ready to watch our last game of the year, and sorry to see the season go, even as bad as it was. Josh, thank you for all you do, and for taking all the flak from us. We just want our Dodgers to win!!! Please express our displeasure with this season, and our desire for the team to be improved for next season. We look forward to a great 2011! I will try to post a few more times today, and will come around in the offseason as things develop. I wish you all a great fall and winter, and hope to be reenergized for a great spring and summer!

  33. sparkleplenty_1

    A rare day indeed – Vinny actually criticizing the Dodgers for not letting Raffy get his props . . . .

  34. northstateblues

    Jigoku ni ochiro Jyaintsu.

    Nice to see the Dodgers’ season end with a W. The Joe Torre era is now over, and like it or not, it made for 3 of the more exciting years in Dodgers’ history. Would’ve been better with a ring, though.

    After the Pads lost, I heard my gf’s mom say “now WE want to beat them”… don’t think the Braves will let the Giants rain on Bobby Cox’s parade, though, so her Yankees will likely miss out on that pleasure.

    Of course, if it DOES happen, it’ll be worse than the two years of ATL-NYY Series’ combined.

    Of course, the Dodgers season doesn’t feel like it’ll really end until Judge Gordon makes his decision… if he gets to make it.

    Wait ’til next year

  35. nedajerk

    One more out for Kuo let’s strand that runners and I wish we had that dp because I need that gidp in my fantasy league but I think I lose anyway but tied my opp in that categories would be good just in case

  36. nedajerk

    This is the worst day of my life to see those fool clinching the NL west. You should’ve seen the Giants main mlb board with all those F bombs they given to there own players, manager, coaches and owner everyday they don’t even deserve the division.

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