World Series Tonight

I'm really excited that my cousin Mark and I are going to game two of the World Series tonight at Dodger Stadium. It wasn't cheap but for us two lifelong Dodger faithful it was a must. In my younger years it seemed the Blue Crew was in the series practically every 3 years or so, and I'd say I was spoiled by success and didn't feel a sense of urgency to experience baseball's pre-eminent showcase. There'd always be another opportunity in a couple of years. The Dodgers were in the Series 9 times in the seasons between 1959 and 1988. But now it's been 29 years. If it takes another 29 years there's a good chance I won't be around (I'm 63 now) or will be too feeble to attend! I've been to 3 playoff games but never a Fall Classic, as Tommy Lasorda likes to call it. So now's the time. Tune in at 5:00 and look for us in the Reserved Level, aisle 11, row H.
GO DODGERS!

Beckett Enters Dodger Lore with No-Hitter

I'm jazzed today due to Dodger pitcher Josh Beckett's no hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies.  I got to hear most of the 6-0 Los Angeles victory on the radio.  No-hitters are rare in baseball.  The last one thrown by a Dodger pitcher was by Hideo Nomo in 1996.  It's pretty close to the pinnacle achievement a pitcher can reach in one game.  Most hurlers, even good ones, never toss a no-hitter in their entire careers.  Don Drysdale and Don Sutton are two Dodger pitchers of the past whose careers were stellar enough that both are enshrined forever in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Together they have over 500 victories between them.  Yet neither ever kept an opposing lineup of big league hitters without a single base hit over the course of a full nine-inning game.

Beckett's achievement is particularly remarkable considering a year ago it was an even bet his career was over.  He had lost feeling in his right hand to grip the ball, and was shut down for the season after starting out with a record of 0-5.  It was determined he had a nerve impingement, and he decided on radical surgery wherein doctors removed one of his ribs in an effort to unblock the nerve signals to his hand.  Amazingly, the operation worked.  With today's game Beckett has run his record to 3-1 with an excellent earned run average of just 2.43 runs per nine innings.  These are some of the little joys that can brighten an otherwise ordinary day, punctuated many are with the depressing news items we so often are confronted with.

 

Happy Birthday, Vin Scully!

Yesterday Vin Scully celebrated his 85th birthday.  The Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster was born November 29, 1927 in New York.  Some of my earliest memories are of listening to him at home as a boy on summer evenings as he recounted the baseball exploits of Sandy Koufax, Junior Gilliam, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills, Tommy Davis, Duke Snider and the rest of the boys in blue.  Three generations of Southern Californians have cherished Scully as a dear friend for 54 years.  Before that, he called the games for the Dodgers for 8 years when they were still in Brooklyn.  His service of 62 years with the same team is a record without parallel in sports.

Vinny has been acclaimed as the greatest baseball announcer of all time.  He calls a game simply but vividly in an expressive tenor.  He is personal and personable.  "Good evening to you, wherever you may be," he often starts out, "time to pull up a chair and settle down for a fine matchup tonight." References to poetry, songs, literature, and anecdotes about the players, both Dodgers and opponents, and even the umpires, spice up the narrative.  Sixty-two years of history and memory serve to weave  the mystique and nostalgia that is so much of baseball in Scully's rich tapestry.  We hear comparisons of Albert Pujols to Henry Aaron, or how a current player's stance, technique or demeanor is remindful of Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays.  He is not a "homer;" he calls a game even-handedly and gives due credit to the achievements of the worthy foes as well as the Dodgers. 

It's been a wonder to hear this friendly and intimate voice for over fifty years, and it's clear that each new year is a gift.  These days Vin is on contract a year at a time, depending on whether he thinks he can still keep up.  He doesn't go on road trips east of the Mississippi any more.  I feel like he's my friend, though I've never met him.  I'm sure I'm not the only one, considering the fact that he once won a fan vote as the favorite all-time Dodger--yes, as a write-in over the team's great star players!  He always did such a wonderful job he was even given special contracts by the networks to do the major golf tournaments, world series and the super bowl.  You can click on the next link to hear a local Los Angeles sportscast from his birthday last year play their list of his 5 greatest calls.

All in all it's been a marvelous life for the self-described "scrawny, red-headed, left-handed kid who couldn't hit" to be such a big part of the game he loves for better than six decades.  Even more, not only has he lived those 62 years of joy, he's brought his warmth, love of the game and love of people into the cars, living rooms, headsets and hearts of millions with him along the way.