The Major League Baseball juggernaut descended on Sydney, Australia on the 22nd and 23rd March for the Opening Series of the 2014 season. Australian sports fans had the privilege to witness the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks play in their own backyard in this historic sporting moment. It is the first time the MLB season opener has been played in the Southern Hemisphere.
The LA Dodgers are synonymous with baseball around the World and one man who has been there since the Brooklyn Dodgers days is Legendary American Broadcaster Vincent ’Vin’ Scully. He is an icon of the sport and considered by many to be baseball royalty and has been the play-by-play announcer for the Dodgers since 1950.
He is known for his dulcet tones and melodic voice. Scully calls the game with calm demure as though he is sitting there right next to you and telling you the story as it unfolds.
After the game on Sunday I was lucky enough to catch up with him before he headed off to the airport to fly back home. Considering his importance to the game of Baseball and that of the Los Angeles Dodgers it was refreshing and surprising to chat to a man that was so humble and down to earth.
This will be your 65th year broadcasting for the one club which is an amazing achievement. Did you ever imagine you would be in this position when you first started?
No, when I first started I was hoping to make it through the season and hoping to perhaps be picked up for the next year. I had no thought of a long career or anything like that.
When you were a young boy growing up in the Bronx did you play the game?
I played. I played high school baseball then I went to College and played VarsityCollege ball. I was good in some areas; I could run, I could throw. I was not much of a hitter like so many of us; that was my short coming.
When did you decide that you wanted to be a broadcaster?
Well, I actually started when I was eight years old, thinking that I wanted to be a broadcaster. I used to crawl under a big old radio, a four legged monster, and lay underneath the speaker. It wasn’t the games so much as the roar of the crowd. That intrigued me, and as a child I used to think, ‘Gosh, I would like to be there’. And then later I thought, ‘Not only do I want to be there, I want to be the fellow announcing the game’.
So you didn’t pick baseball, baseball picked you?
Kind of, in some ways yes.
You have had an illustrious career to date. There have been a multitude of awards and numerous inductions into Halls of Fame alongside names like George Burns, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. Not to mention a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Has there been a stand out highlight?
My highlights in my job have been the talking about the accomplishments of others. It is not really that I am the one doing anything, so the highlights for me are those great moments performed by other people that have given me the chance to describe it. It is nothing that I have done.
Has there been a favourite Dodgers team or Era?
Well I think my first team would be my kind of graduation class team. So the first few years these players meant a great deal. Then winning the only World Series in Brooklyn that was a great moment. Then of course in Los Angeles it has been a series of great moments and incredible individual moments as well.
What do you think of this 2014 season team, any predictions?
No I do not predict. The reason is there is the unseen enemy and no one knows who it is and when it will strike and that would be injuries. Last year the Dodgers started off very poorly. Finally they got themselves healthy, made one trade and won over in a section 42 out of 50, and that sent them away and they had a shot at the World Series but Hanley Ramirez was hit by a pitch , fractured a rib and they came up two games short. You never know.
During your career who have been your three favourite players?
That would be a tough question because there are so many over a period of 65 years. You can just imagine how many players I have known.
Do you have one special player?
I have one player, I especially would like to see him get into the Hall of Fame and that would be Dodgers first baseman in Brooklyn by the name of Gil Hodges. He was a true wonderful human being, a very good player and managed the Mets to the World Series Championship. I would like to see Gil get in, however I do not know if that will happen.
What are your thoughts on this Opening Series in Sydney? We have had 38,000 fans at each game. Is this something you would like to see happen in other parts of the World?
Oh Absolutely. Those were two fine crowds. Yesterday they talked about a little rain before the game. They speculated there might be rain today yet the crowds came out. That in itself is testimony to the game and testimony to the sports fans here in Sydney. I would think it was a marvellous experience for all concerned.
This is your second visit to Australia. Have you enjoyed yourself this time with your wife? Has there been much time for sight seeing?
We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing. We went to a couple of very nice restaurants and there was a baseball cocktail party for 200 people. We enjoyed that and the other night we had a boat ride with dinner served on SydneyHarbour, and that was lovely over for four hours. Then of course the two big games, so it has been a lovely week. And then there is always the nice prospect of going home.
Last question, while you were here in Australia did you get the opportunity to try Vegemite?
No I haven’t. Someone said it is not very good. But you know, I never thought about it, so I missed out. Maybe next time!
Let’s hope we see Vin Scully and the LA Dodgers back in Australia sometime soon.