By Dylan Hernandez
The Dodgers could be even worse next season. Their ownership situation could remain unresolved and their stadium could remain half-empty.
But fans can take solace in at least this: Vin Scully will return for his 63rd season as the team’s broadcaster.
On a Friday night when Matt Kemp became the second player in franchise history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season, Scully shared his future plans with the Prime Ticket audience watching the Dodgers’ 6-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
“God’s been awfully good to me, allowing me to do the things I love to do,” Scully said on the telecast. “I asked him one more year, at least, and he said OK.”
The Dodgers issued a news release soon after, confirming the 83-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster would be back. The team said Scully would again call all home and select road games.
Scully said he made the announcement on the air to avoid the kind of news conference he held the previous year to declare his intentions to return for the 2011 season.
“I hate to make a big deal out of it,” he said. “I’m not trying to be a Brett Favre or whoever else.”
Scully said he was lured back in part by the familiar faces at the ballpark.
“I enjoy the people,” he said. “I really like newspapermen. I enjoy talking and visiting. The winning and losing doesn’t bother me. I think it’s just the love of people. I just don’t know what I would do without it.”
Scully handles the play-by-play for all nine innings of his Prime Ticket and KCAL telecasts. The first three innings of the games are simulcast on KABC 790 AM. His 62 years with the Dodgers is said to be the longest tenure of any broadcaster in American sports history.
“He’s the face of the Dodgers,” Kemp said. “If he was to leave, I think everyone would miss that voice.”
Scully’s announcement came on the week that Times columnist T.J. Simers reported that the Dodgers asked their season-ticket holders to evaluate the Hall of Fame broadcaster.
Scully revealed his decision in the sixth inning, when the Dodgers were trailing, 1-0. The Dodgers scored six runs an inning later.“Can he announce it again tomorrow?” Manager Don Mattingly asked. Click here to continue reading.
Editor’s note: Say it again. Out loud. Sixty-third season. Remarkable. A survey was recently circulated by the Dodgers asking what fans thought of their broadcasting crew — including Vin Scully.
TORONTO – A Los Angeles Dodger season ticket holder named John Richards received a ballclub-authored survey in the mail, a survey presumably sent to other season subscribers. He was so stunned and outraged by a section in which he was asked to evaluate the work of broadcaster Vin Scully, that he wrote an e-mail about it to T.J. Simers, of the Los Angeles Times.
Wrote Richards:
“On a scale of 1 to 5, they wanted my opinion of Vin Scully in the following eight areas: 1. Knowledge of baseball; 2. Knowledge of Dodgers organization; 3. Objectivity; 4. Accuracy of calls; 5. Storytelling ability; 6. Focus on the game; 7. Style; 8. Overall performance.
“This is like polling Catholics about Mother Teresa’s work,” he said. “This is Vin’s 62nd year behind the microphone in a broadcasting career that no one will ever emulate. Is this portion of the survey really necessary?”
Maybe McCourt is considering building a new ballpark, and was looking for some free demolition of aging Dodger Stadium. Someone in that organization must know that Dodger fans would tear that place to the ground if they ever let Vin go….