Vin Scully. The voice of the Dodgers. The voice of Los Angeles.
No doubt about it, one of the very few good things about living in Los Angeles is being able to listen to Vin Scully broadcast Dodger games.
In a few days Scully will complete his 58th season as the Dodger's premiere broadcaster.
Magic is exactly what Scully has brought to baseball broadcasting.
Doing both the play-by-play and the color, he saves the listeners from a montage of conflicting voices and unending, mind-numbing monotony of detailed analysis of every player's most nuanced gesture.
The only magic he hasn't been able to work is a pennant for the Dodgers.
Often he plays the Jewish or Italian momma, and is a down right noodge, telling people to drive carefully to and from the stadium. Not a day game goes by without him telling the fans to slather on the sun block.
No one know how he does it. He probably doesn't know himself, but he can be in the middle of a story, call a play, and immediately pick up the thread of the story without missing a beat.
At season's end, it's not unusual to hear him give us the play-by-play of three games at once, while keeping us posted on which team is vying for what position in the standings for the playoffs.
After 58 years of calling games, Scully has seen everything on the field and in the stands from perfect games to no-hitters; from records broken to championships won and lost; from players rushing the field to fans behaving badly.
In all those years there's only been one thing Scully couldn't do; one elusive thing that he confessed on-air that he's always wanted to do.
Say three little words: WHO'S ON FIRST.
That was until Chin-Lung Hu, a native of Taiwan, joined the team at the beginning of September. Pronounced who, Hu's first hit as a Dodger was a homer in a game with the San Diego Padres. Touching first base was all that was required, not visiting it.
His second game appearance resulted in four roundtrips from the bench to the batter's box and back to the bench.
In the next game against the Arizona Diamondback, Scully uttered something that's still cracks me up, "Let's hope Hu get's a base hit, folks. I can't wait to say WHO's on first."
They say that three's the charm. Game three. The Dodgers were still in Arizona, and Voila! Hu gets his first single. Scully took a deep breath and said, "Okay everybody. All together...WHO's on first!"
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