Vin Scully
Legendary Dodger Announcer 1950 - 2015+
“Fifty-six years...56 million memories in the making. Vin Scully is, and always will be, the “voice of heaven.” From Brooklyn to Los Angeles, father-to-son, grandparent-to-grandchild, Vin Scully has established himself as one of the most important figures in baseball history. He’s been considered the Babe Ruth of broadcasting - not too shabby. Remember...there was only one BABE RUTH.” These words were spoken in 2005 in a tribute by Lou Wasson, a sportscaster at KGET in Bakersfield honoring one of Fordham University’s most illustrious graduates, Vin Scully. (Wolfe 24) Vincent Edward Scully was born on November 29, 1927 in the Bronx, New York. His parents were Irish immigrants. (Smith
…show more content…
Dodger. He’s got a heart as big as his body.” (Wolfe 39) Vin Scully has received numerous awards honoring his excellence in sports broadcast journalism. In 1982, Vinnie was inducted into the Broadcaster’s wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the Ford C. Frick Award recipient. He has also earned the Sports Lifetime Achievement Award and the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award. The fans voted him the most popular personality in Los Angeles Dodger history. Some of the most memorable events in Vin Scully’s career include: Scully announcing the 1953 World Series, making him the youngest man(at age 25) to broadcast a World Series game, in 1988, Scully's famous call on Kirk Gibson's game-winning home run: “She is….gone!” He sits quietly has the crowd roars. Then says: "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!" (USA Today), broadcasting 23 innings in one day in two different cities. He did the play-by-play for the NBC Game of the Week in St. Louis, then flew to call the Sunday Dodgers game, which went into extra innings. (Timeline) “Vin Scully, 85, says as long as he’s healthy, has permission from his wife and still has enthusiasm for the game, he won’t do what Dodgers fans dread: retire.” (Timeline) “He has broadcast Dodger games under twelve U.S. Presidents. If he isn’t the game’s all-time greatest announcer – if he isn’t sports’ all-time greatest announcer – he’s no worse than second or third.”
Babe Ruth is still a very well-known person in history today, even almost one-hundred years later. He did not only change the way people viewed negro baseball leagues, but he also gained a large reputation for his ability to play baseball, obviously due to his amazing abilities. Ruth’s ability to play was almost impossibly good, in fact, he was even titled “athlete of the century” for his ability. With that ability and power that he had once he won, he would become a
Baseball was popular the most sport in 1919; players were seen as heroes and celebrities. At this time the players were payed very low wages and the owners of the team made huge profit. Because of this many players were into scams that involved them losing games on purpose. During that time of baseball, players didn’t make as much as they do today.Players would be offered large amount of money that would multiply to several times their salary.
Do you know who Babe Ruth is? Babe Ruth is one of the greatest baseball players that ever lived. After doing some research on him, I learned lots about his baseball career, his life growing up, and much more.
But a sports writer named Tris Speaker thought that maybe he should have stayed as a pitcher when he joined the Yankees when he said this, “Ruth made a grave mistake when he gave up pitching. Working once a week, he might have lasted a long time and become a great star. After Babe’s first year with the Yankees, he already looked like he was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime talent. He brought so much power to the plate and so much excitement to the game, it was unreal. In his first year with the Yankees, he had a .376 batting average with a insane 54 homeruns, the most ever in a season by a player. That wasn’t the only year he set the homerun record. The next year he hit 59 homeruns, and then he hit 60 homeruns in 1927. In Nine years with the Yankees so far, Ruth as a .355 batting average and an enormous amount of homeruns with 467. Teammates have loved playing with Ruth, including one teammate Lefty Gomez, as he said this, ”No one hit homeruns the way Babe did. They were something special. They were like homing pigeons. The ball would leave the bat, pause briefly, suddenly gain its bearings then take off for the
Who would have thought a little boy from the Dominican Republic would have so much effect on people. David Ortiz is a well known player around the Major League Baseball Association, many people know him by Big Papi. He has created foundations and many other things for all types of people. From children to adults and in between, Ortiz has been an influential individual.
Did you know that when Mickey Mantle was growing up he hated the New York Yankees. Yes that is right, even though Mickey Mantle spent his whole career playing for the Yankees he didn't like them; when he was younger he liked the Cardinals. Mickey Mantle's early life was hard his family was poor and he was constantly getting injured playing football. Mickey Mantle's career was very successful but it didn't come without hard work. He spent many late nights with his dad learning how to play baseball. Mickey had many accomplishments in his 18 year career but one of his greatest accomplishment was his wife and four sons. Through hard work and determination Mickey Mantle became a great man and a great baseball player
On June 26th 1974, in Pequannock, New Jersey, Derek Sanderson Jeter was born. His parents were Charles Jeter and Dorothy Connors. His parents had a rare relationship for their time. Charles was african american and Dorothy was white. In the 1960s marriage of separate races was frowned upon but they loved each other and made it work. When Derek was still a small child, Charles moved the family to Kalamazoo, Michigan. This is where practically Dereks whole childhood took place.
Throughout the course of American history, there have been copious amounts of famous speeches, spoken by many different people. From political figures to sports players; these people have provided deep thoughts and great insights about who they are and the world we live in today. Being a sports enthusiast, a memorable speech comes to my mind. Lou Gehrig’s “farewell speech”, given on July 4th, 1939, to more than 62,000 fans at New York City’s Yankee Stadium, has become a cornerstone in the history of baseball in America. Lou Gehrig is considered one of the most under-rated sports players of all time. Gehrig played in the same era with greats like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. In Fact, Gehrig played on the same team and actually batted behind Ruth and DiMaggio. Gehrig’s nickname is the “Iron Horse,” which came about with Gehrig’s amazing consecutive games played streak. Gehrig played in 2,130 consecutive games, which stood as the consecutive games record until just recently broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. Gehrig died in 1941, at the age of 37. Though many famous speeches have been spoken throughout time, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech has remained one of the most memorable speeches of all time, due to the way he captivated his fans with the use of rhetoric.
Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player to play on the professional level, he was fearless, courageous, willful and strong. He was an advocate for civil rights, as well as a great baseball player. He had to try to keep quiet, and keep to himself while playing, but became a stronger and more extreme advocate over time. A leader on and off the fields dealing with much more than just baseball, he also had to deal with the criticism and racial tensions of a prominently white game. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was a showman who knew how to make money and fame in baseball “he had made a fortune for the cardinals as well as himself, and black talent could argument his bottom line by transforming his struggling dodgers into a power house” (Zeiler, 17). He wanted to make his team great by any means possible. He put his eyes on Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson changed the game and the world, and will always be a huge figure in baseball and civil rights.
For much of the 20th century, African-American citizens had been disenfranchised throughout the South and the entire United States, they were regarded as inferior second-class citizens. Despite efforts to integrate society, the political and economic systems were meant to continue the cycle of oppression against African-Americans, throughout the south and indirectly yet ever present in the north. These laws of segregation, otherwise knows as Jim Crow laws, applied to almost every aspect of southern American society, including sports. During this time period, African-American athletes had to resort to second class organizational leagues to play in, this included the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson. Much of this institutionalized racism
Jackie Robinson overcame many struggles in life such as being included in the civil rights movement, facing discrimination, and he achieved being the first black man in major league baseball. He was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia on Hadley Ferry Road. It is a blue-collar town of about 10,000 people. Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the major leagues with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even though he achieved this major goal he still had trouble getting there. He and his siblings were raised by his single mother. Jackie attended Muir High School and Pasadena Junior College. He was a great athlete and played many sports. He played football, basketball, track, and of course baseball. He left school in 1941, worked as an athletic director and played semiprofessional football for the Honolulu Bears before being drafted to the Army in 1942. While he was in the army he became close friends with Joe Louis. The heavyweight used his popularity to protest about the delayed entry of black soldiers. Two years later he got the honor to be second lieutenant in 1943. After an accident where he refused to sit in the back of an unsegregated bus, military police arrested Robinson. A duty officer requested this and then later he requested that Jackie should be court martialed. Since this happened Jackie was not allowed to be deployed overseas to the World War II. He never saw combat during the war. Jackie left the Army with an honorable discharge.
...as handled by his courage were the first few years he was signed on to the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the interview between Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, Dodgers president, said to Robinson:
His pitching performance was great during the series showing off his new pitches and also using his demanding fastball too. Again took the Monarchs took the World Series in 1946 and lost in a 3-2 series allowing the Newark Eagles to become the
A hero is someone who doesn’t give up and keeps on fighting for their goal. Jackie Robinson is a great hero and came over great challenges, but he achieved his goal. How Jackie Robinson embodies the human spirt is that he broke the color barrier, and the challenges he faced, and his life.
Jackie Robinson once said that “"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." (Brainy Quotes). Jackie Robinson faced more abuse than any other baseball player. Jackie Robinson had his mind set on breaking the color barrier for African Americans. Jackie Robinson had the muscle strength and talent to inspire and change the color barrier in Major League baseball. Jackie Robinson was one of the most significant baseball players that America has ever known for Jackie Robinson’s bravery to stop the color barrier for, his inspiration he gave to people all around the world and for his accomplishments during baseball and outside of baseball this made him one of the most valuable players in the National League.