Vin Scully during his final month in broadcasting before retiring. Here he is broadcasting on Mon Sep 19, 2016 calling the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (AP News file photo)

By Tony the Tiger Hayes

SAN FRANCISCO–It seemed somewhat poetic that the death of legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully was announced during a spirited game between the his beloved Dodgers and the team he grew up unabashedly loving… – the Giants.

Mr. Scully, who passed away at age 94 of unspecified causes was a baseball lifer – literally.

One of his earliest memories as a child came at age five in his native New York when he was dazzled by an electronic ticker in Times Square announcing that the then New York Giants had defeated the Washington Senators to win the 1933 World Series.

From that point Scully was a die hard Giants fan. He particularly adored the legendary Giants slugger Mel Ott. Mr. Scully practically spent his youth at Manhattan’s Polo Grounds cheering on his Giants and rooting against the dreaded Dodgers of Brooklyn.

A skilled baseball player himself, Scully went on to play infield for the Fordham University baseball squad.

But when he had trouble with the curve ball, Mr. Scully set his sights on the broadcast booth.

“We had this big old radio, and I would crawl underneath it, and the speakers would be directly over my head,” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1994. “Something would happen, and the announcer would get excited. The crowd would roar, the sound would come out of that speaker like water out of a showerhead, and it seemed to wash down on me.”

His smooth delivery and home spun style caught the attention of a New York big league team in 1950. But it wasn’t the Giants or even the Yankees who hired him, it was the dreaded Dodgers.

Mr.Scully would spend the next 67 years describing Dodgers baseball to generations of Dodgers fans, particularly in Southern California where fans didn’t mind being stuck in traffic as long as good friend Vinny was spending time with them.

“Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good afternoon to you wherever you may be,” Scully would invariably begin. “Pull up a chair and spend part of the day with us.”

The appreciations rolled in as news of Scully’s passing was announced in the 6th inning of Tuesday night’s 9-5 Dodgers win at Oracle Park.

We have lost an icon,” Dodger President & CEO Stan Kasten said. “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.”

After the Giants game, the tribute “Vin Scully 1927-2022” with a black and white photo of Mr. Scully was shown on the scoreboard. In the background Frank Sinatra’s classic tune, “In Other Words (Fly Me to the Moon)” played on the stadium speakers.

Fans – both Giants and Dodgers alike – politely applauded.

For once both sides of the 135 year old rivalry could agree on something.