Among my earliest memories of baseball were those Saturday morning (on the West Coast) games on NBC with the soothing sounds of Vin Scully on play by play with Joe Garagiola on color. I can recall seeing a Pirate/Red matchup in the late 70s with the "We Are Family" crew facing Tom Seaver and Pete Rose and Johnny Bench, in either the old Three Rivers or Riverfront Stadium on the carpet with the 5 circles.
I'm not nostalgic for the days of Astroturf.
But thinking back to those days makes me think about how fortunate I've been out west to hear some very good announcers. With the Giants, I recall listening to Hank Greenwald for many years, along with Lon Simmons for parts of the past several years. When Hank retired in the mid 90s, the mike was turned over to Jon Miller (formerly of the Orioles and still with ESPN's Sunday Night crew). Joe Morgan did great color work for the Giants until he stuck with his national gig, and the current crew including former Giant and Indian Duane Kuiper along with former Cub, Phillie and Giants pitcher Mike Krukow (who ironically came to the Giants from the Phillies in exchange for Joe Morgan) is quite solid.
When I'm in LA during this time of year, I make a point to listen to Dodger games on the radio - if only to hear Vin's voice. Or I'll watch a Dodger game on the tube, because Vin will be announcing a few innings on TV before heading over to the radio side.
We associate our teams (and our memories of games) with those who called them. The 1954 NL title would not be the same with Russ Hodges' dramatic call. Giants home runs take on a special value, it seems, when Lon Simmons announces it with his trademark, "Bye bye baby!"
So...I'm curious to hear about your memories and thoughts on your favorite announcers. The lines are open...
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Reflections on the grand ol' game from fans across the country. As a wise forty-something sage once said, "Baseball is proof that God exists."
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5 comments:
You know, as great as Vin Scully has been for the better part of 40 years, one of the best calls that, to this day, whenever I see a clip of it on ESPN Classic, brings me chills is Jack Buck's call on the Gibson dinger against Eck and the A's in the '88 series.
"I don't bee-leeeve....what I just saw...."
He meant it. Like most of us who saw the homer. Vin was calling that game too, with his classic "High fly ball into right field, she i-i-i-is... gone!!!"
Then silence, letting the pictures and the crowd tell the story as L.A. went bezerk.
And then this "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!"
Vin also called Game 6 of the 1986 World Series between the Mets and the BoSox. Yeah, the Buckner play, and it was arguably his most famous: "A little roller up along first ... behind the bag ... it gets through Buckner!!! Here comes Knight ... and the Mets win it!"
He was silent for about 2 1/2 minutes, then he pulls this out of his bag of tricks: "If one picture is worth a thousand words, you have seen about a million words..."
I tell ya, the day this guy goes, L.A. will stand still for a day, much like when Chick Hearn went. He means that much to L.A.
Vin Scully is the man when it comes to commentary. As a baseball fan, and even as a Giants fan, I can say that without prejudice. He is the guy all the others look up to. I remember hearing him calling a Dodgers Spring Training game last year and even though it was the Dodgers, I just couldn't change the station. You've got to appreciate the greats while they're around.
I had the pleasure of meeting Vin Scully in Cincinatti when I was a kid. He was an awesome guy. I grew up listening to the Reds announcers Joe Knuxhall and Marty Breneman. Although I am a die hard Yankees fan, there is a special place in my heart for the Reds. It takes me back in time when I think about hearing those guys call names like Rose, Bench, Concepcion, and Morgan. Man what a team and an era. The times have sure changed, but baseball remains the only constant!
Marcel, I think ALL of baseball will have a moment of silence and stand for Vin the day he's gone. He is THE voice.
Several years ago Jon Miller was at one of the Giants stores signing copies of his autobiography at a Noontime event. There weren't too many folks there, so I was able to purchase my copy, have it signed, and speak to him. As he talks about the game, he suddenly breaks into his Vin Scully voice, which is DEAD ON. And then, not only does he do Vin, he does Vin broadcasting in Japanese...even more hilarious.
Ouch, Jim - you had to replay Vin's call from yesterday's game... ;-)
The great announcers with one syllable names...Vin, Jack, Russ, Chick, Lon...
Now how about the Voices you really can't stand??? I'll start with Ron Fairly and Skip Caray (such a homer with the Braves).
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