While some matters remained the same — the Los Angeles Dodgers winning a fifth consecutive National League West title and reaching the NL Championship Series — there was a landmark change for the franchise as Vin Scully no longer resided in the broadcast booth.
In August 2015, Scully announced the 2016 season would be his last. After a 67-year career that began in Brooklyn, the iconic voice of the Dodgers was at peace with retiring. So Scully sailed off into the sunset after calling the team’s final regular-season series at AT&T Park.
He’s returned to Dodger Stadium for special occasions — the unveiling of the Jackie Robinson statue, and an induction into the Ring of Honor — but has otherwise remained in the shadows.
With the Dodgers reaching the World Series for the first time since 1988, there have been several calls for Scully to briefly return to work. He explained to Tom Hoffarth of the Southern California News Group why that won’t come to frution:
“I honestly don’t feel I belong there and I would not want anyone to think I was eager for a spotlight,” the retired Hall of Fame broadcaster said via email Friday morning.
Scully politely declined previous overtures and invitations to call games, even with current Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis saying he would be honored to be joined by the Hall-of-Famer. While Scully has attempted to not become a distraction, as he’d say, the Dodgers have made that somewhat difficult.
Justin Turner’s walk-off home run in Game 2 of the NLCS came on the 29th anniversary of Kirk Gibson hitting his dramatic, game-winning homer in Game 1 of the World Series. It spawned one of Scully’s most famous calls.
When asked how he would’ve handled Turner’s moment, Scully, true to his personality, said he similarly would have allowed the crowd to fill scene.
