In an announcement from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night, legendary broadcaster, Vin Scully, who called thousands of games for over 60 years, has died at the age of 94. The news of Scully’s death comes a little over a year after his wife Sandra died from her battle with ALS. This also comes a little over a year after the death of Scully’s longtime friend and legendary Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. Scully’s cause of death was not revealed.
“We have lost an icon,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. “The Dodgers Vin Scully 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 heard and etched in all of our minds forever. I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time. Vin will be truly missed.”
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Scully began calling Dodgers games when they were the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. He was the team’s principal announcer until 1957 when the team moved the Los Angeles. From there, Scully would call the Dodgers games in Southern California and would remain the voice of the Dodgers until 2016. In his time in the booth, Scully saw the Dodgers win six World Series titles, 13 National League championships and 16 West Division crowns.
In October 2020, the Dodgers won their first World Series since 1988. Before their win, Scully talked about how confident he was in the Dodgers beating the Tampa Bay Rays for the title. “I don’t mean to put anybody down,” Scully, the beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster, told USA TODAY, “but when the series started, I thought the Dodgers would win in five (games). Not that I know anything, but my thought is, ‘What’s taking them so long?’”
Scully is considered by many as the best broadcaster in MLB history. He has called memorable Dodgers games, but he’s also remembered for calling Hank Aaron’s 715th home run in 1974. “What a marvelous moment for baseball,” Scully said on the call. “What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And, it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly for Henry Aaron, who was met at home plate, not only by every member of the Braves but by his father and mother.”
Due to his consistency and longevity, Scully has earned a wide variety of honors including winning a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award and being inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. Scully has also been named National Sportscaster of the year by the National Sports Media Association four times (1965, 1978, 1982, 2016). He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and his call of the final Brooklyn Dodgers vs. New York Giants game in 1957 was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2017.
