Vin Scully, who for more than 60 years was the voice of Los Angeles Dodgers baseball, has died.
The Dodgers announced Scully’s death on social media, calling the incomparable legend of the broadcast booth, “the heartbeat of the Dodgers.”
“He was the voice of the Dodgers, and so much more. He was their conscience, their poet laureate, capturing their beauty and chronicling their glory from Jackie Robinson to Sandy Koufax, Kirk Gibson to Clayton Kershaw,” the organization wrote.
Vincent Edward Scully was born on Nov. 29, 1927, in Bronx, New York. He began his legendary career at Fordham University, where he worked on the school paper and for the college radio station.
He latched onto the then-Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1950s and followed the team to the West Coast where he would become synonymous with Dodgers baseball for the next 67 season.
Scully retired from calling Dodgers games after the 2016 season, eight years after announcing his original plans to step away from the game he loved.
He was a MLB Hall of Fame inductee in the 1980s, becoming one of only a handful of announcers to receive the honor. In 2016 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Earlier this year, he was awarded the Baseball Digest lifetime achievement award.
“We have lost an icon,” said Dodger President & CEO Stan Kasten. “The Dodgers’ Vin Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant of a man, not only as a broadcaster, but as a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers. And he loved his family. His voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever. I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time. Vin will be truly missed.”
“The game is the thing, not me,” Scully told The Los Angeles Times in 1998. “I am just a conduit for the game. I am the guy between the expert and the fan. I am not the expert.”
Scully was 94 years old.