September 25, 2016: Vin Scully bids farewell to Los Angeles fans in final game at Dodger Stadium

Vin Scully was hired at the age of 22 by Dodgers broadcaster Red Barber, and broadcast his first game at Shibe Park in Philadelphia on April 18, 1950. Scully became the team’s primary announcer when Barber joined the New York Yankees in 1954.1 Scully was on the call when the team won its first championship in 1955. He remained with the Dodgers when they relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, and spent the next four years describing baseball games from the LA Coliseum.

Scully created an unparalleled dynamic between himself and the Los Angeles fan base, inspiring fans to bring transistor radios to the ballpark so they could experience the game as though sitting alongside him. The device became a household necessity just as the Dodgers arrived from Brooklyn, and Scully’s storytelling became a part of the ballpark experience. In the massive Coliseum, where the team played from 1958 to 1961, fans found that a familiar voice could bring them closer to the game than their binoculars could. Scully once famously asked fans to join him in saying Happy Birthday to umpire Frank Secory, and the Coliseum crowd erupted with a unified “Happy Birthday!”2 With their transistor radios in hand, they were no longer just spectators. Los Angeles Times writer Bill Shaikin called this “the greatest communal experience in Southern California sports history.”3

Scully introduced fans to Dodger Stadium on Opening Day, April 10, 1962. In the decades between his first and final broadcasts at Dodger Stadium, he nurtured the growing bond between this team and its city. The World Series championships in 1959, 1963, and 1965 certainly helped endear the team to LA fans, but Scully would engage listeners in the midst of losing seasons as well. His tenure in Los Angeles included the 99-loss season of 1992, which occurred in the midst of social unrest and violent riots.

Transistor radios eventually gave way to digital streaming platforms. His voice no longer echoed through the concession stands as it had in the 1960s, but Scully remained an integral part of the fan experience until his final game. He continued to broadcast games without a partner in the booth, in order to maintain a “one-on-one” dynamic with listeners. “If I want to sell you a car, is it better for me to talk to you about the merits of the car or talk to so-and-so and have you listen to our discussion about the merits of the car? Red [Barber] always felt that it was better to talk one on one.”4 Scully wanted fans to know that he was talking directly to them.

Despite all the drama surrounding the team’s playoff push, Scully’s farewell tour took center stage in September 2016. In the final months of the season, opponents honored Scully with tributes. Multiple teams silenced their own broadcast team for an inning to provide their own fan base an opportunity to experience Scully’s play-by-play calls.5 The Dodgers held their own ceremony for Scully on September 23, with guest speakers Sandy Koufax and Kevin Costner.6

Dodgers games were not typically like this. Scully had always removed himself from the on-field drama, broadcasting as an unbiased fellow spectator. Scully had been advised by Barber to never root from the broadcast booth.7 This became a trait beloved by fans. In a Sports Illustrated article in 1964, Robert Creamer wrote of a fan’s perspective on Scully: “A Scully admirer has said, ‘I can never tell from the tone of Vin’s voice whether the Dodgers are ahead or behind. … It doesn’t get gleeful, it doesn’t get dull and flat. I like baseball, and I think he does, too.’”8 When asked about his approach to calling his final home game, Scully responded, “I don’t think I’m going to stress anything about me, I’ll try to just do the game. I really will.”9

At the opening of the broadcast, Scully issued a statement harkening back to his early days in Los Angeles. He said, “Since 1958, you and I have really grown up together. Through the good times and the bad.”10 The statement was released publicly prior to the game. True to form, Scully reserved personal sentiment for the moments before and after the game.

The Dodgers came up to bat in the bottom of the first inning, and each Dodger tipped his cap toward the press box as he stepped to the plate. First, it was Howie Kendrick. Justin Turner followed. Corey Seager did the same. Vin was unaware of the tribute until the second inning. Once he noticed what was happening, he made an effort to wave back to each player.11 Turner and Adrián González, who had both grown up in Southern California, planned this salute. Turner said after the game, “We just wanted to make sure he knew how special he is to us.”12 The game proceeded in this way, with periodic reminders from players, fans, and Scully himself that this was the last time they would all be able to do this together.

In the second inning, Rockies shortstop Cristhian Adames singled and then scored when Dustin Garneau doubled to left field. Garneau took third base on a groundball to the left side, and came home on a fly ball by Charlie Blackmon. The Rockies led, 2-0.

Scully’s impartiality and anecdotal style always lent itself well to tough losses and close games. He could celebrate baseball on behalf of either dugout, or find levity in a child’s smile, so he would have no difficulty guiding fans through a loss if the Rockies were to hold their lead. Scully specialized in bringing comfort, even when the loss occurred beyond the baseball field. News broke early that morning that Miami Marlins star pitcher José Fernández had died in a boating accident at age 24. It was shocking, heartbreaking news. Fernández had been a friend of fellow Cuban Yasiel Puig, and Puig had given a tearful interview mourning the loss of his friend.13 Scully honored Fernández by reading aloud a comment made on social media by the Marlins pitcher the previous year: “If you were given a book with the story of your life, would you read the end?”14 It was brief, poignant, and fitting.

The Dodgers were trailing 2-1 as the game reached the seventh-inning stretch. In the bottom half of the inning, Justin Turner singled and Corey Seager drove him home with a triple to the right-field wall. With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning, manager Dave Roberts called on closer Kenley Jansen. Outfielder David Dahl had struck out in his two previous appearances against Jansen,15 but this time hit a home run to center field after falling behind, 0-and-2.

The game could have ended with a 3-2 Rockies victory, without additional drama. Vin Scully would have undoubtedly redeemed the low moment with a gracious farewell to Dodgers fans, and this game would still be fondly remembered. Thanks to Corey Seager, that never happened.

In the Dodgers ninth, Rockies closer Adam Ottavino struck out the first two batters but fell behind 2-and-0 to Seager. With the next pitch, Seager fully revived the fans still there, plus those listening to Scully on the drive home. Seager homered to right field and the crowd erupted.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Rockies reliever Boone Logan got two outs and then faced Charlie Culberson, a defensive specialist journeyman with only 67 major-league at-bats since the end of the 2014 season. Culberson would finish the 2016 season with a career batting line of .234/.272/.327, with 5 home runs. He had not hit a home run since 2014, when he was playing for the Rockies.

The rest of the game reads like a bedtime story. On Logan’s second pitch to him, Culberson hit a home run to left field, giving the Dodgers a walk-off victory and clinching the NL West Division championship.

The moment belonged to Vin Scully as much as it belonged to Culberson. As fans watched the ball land, Scully exclaimed, “A high fly ball to deep left field … the Dodger bench empties, and would you believe a home run?”16

After the excitement died down, the Dodgers gathered on the field and raised their caps to the press box. Manager Dave Roberts, who was being interviewed on the field, proclaimed “Vin, we love you, and this is for you, my friend.” Scully, with his wife and family beside him, motioned a hug to Roberts and the team. Scully closed the game by playing his rendition of “Wind Beneath My Wings” over the PA system.

The communal gathering of players, coaches, fans, and family served as a fitting farewell for the Transistor Kid. Scully’s voice echoed throughout the ballpark once again, for one last time.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retroheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN201609250.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2016/B09250LAN2016.htm

A full video of the game is available on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPpa220oxWY

Scully’s final call may also be seen at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HayOXW09kl8

Notes

1 Robert Creamer, “The Transistor Kid,” Sports Illustrated, May 4, 1964.

2 Bill Shaikin, “Vin Scully, Dodger Fans and the Transistor Radio,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2022-07-15/vin-scully-dodgers-los-angeles-fans-transistor-radio-dodger-stadium-coliseum.

3 “Vin Scully, Dodger Fans and the Transistor Radio.”

4 Jeffrey Brown. “Vin Scully, ‘One on One’ From the Booth,” PBS News Hour. October 5, 2009. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/dodgers-vin-scully-one-on-one-from-the-booth

5 Bill Shaikin, “After 67 Years of Greatness Calling Dodgers Games, Vin Scully Just Wants to be Remembered as a Good Man,” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2016. https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-scully-career-20160924-snap-story.html.

6 Jesse Dougherty, “In His Words: Vin Scully Shares His ‘Thanksgiving’ with Dodger Stadium Crowd,” Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2016.

7 Creamer.

8 Creamer.

9 Ted Berg, “Here’s Literally Everything Vin Scully Said in One of His Last Conference Calls, ” USA Today, August 3, 2022, Accessed January 12, 2024. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2022/08/vin-scully-conference-call-dodgers-giants-retirement-playoffs-mlb

10 Andrew Joseph, “Vin Scully Delivers an Incredible Open Before His Last Broadcast at Dodger Stadium,” USA Today, September 25, 2016. https://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/09/vin-scully-dodger-stadium-dodgers-final-broadcast-intro-mlb.

11 Pedro Moura, “Vin Scully’s Last Broadcast at Dodger Stadium Has a Fitting Ending,” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2016. Accessed October 28, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/la-sp-dodgers-report-20160925-snap-story.html.

12 Andrew Joseph.

13 Pedro Moura, “A Shaken Yasiel Puig Dedicates Sunday’s Game to Fallen Friend Jose Fernandez,” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2016. Accessed October 28, 2023, https://www.latimes.com/sports/mlb/la-sp-fernandez-puig-reaction-20160925-snap-story.html.

14 Sammy Roth, “Vin Scully’s Last Dodgers Games: What I’ll Remember About the Man Behind the Voice,” Palm Springs (California) Desert Sun, September 28, 2016.

15 Ken Gurnick and Thomas Harding. “Vinning Tribute! LA Walks Off to Clinch West,” MLB.com, September 25, 2016. Accessed October 28, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/dodgers-walk-off-in-10th-clinch-nl-west-title-c203311116.

16 Gurnick and Harding.