At the time of announcing his intention to return for the 2016 season, Los Angeles Dodgers legendary broadcaster Vin Scully revealed it would be his last in the booth. That set in motion the wheels for a farewell tour, even though the famed voice of the organization asked there not be one.
It began with a portion of Elysian Park Avenue being renamed to Vin Scully Ave., and reached the Dodgers’ final home game of the season when Charlie Culberson’s walk-off home run in extra innings against the Colorado Rockies clinched the National League West.
The play was the last Scully called at home, and recently earned him the 2016 Best Call TV/Radio Esurance MLB Award.
The now-retired Hall of Famer could perhaps take home more hardware, as Scully is one of the nominees for the Sports Illustrated 2016 Sportsperson of the Year Award, via SI:
The bard of baseball put down his microphone after 67 years in the booth, a career that saw the 88-year-old Scully interact with Connie Mack and Corey Seager. We will never see another like him. Scully worked alone for much of his time as a commentator and was rightfully feted for his years as a poet-philosopher, the most beloved person in baseball, now and forever.
The soon-to-be 89-year-old faces tough competition for the Sports Illustrated award, as the other nominees includes Olympians Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, Usain Bolt and Simone Biles, basketball players LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Breanna Stewart, football player Von Miller, NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson, English football club Leicester City, as well as the Chicago Cubs who broke a 108-year World Series drought by defeated the Cleveland Indians despite trailing 3-1 in the series.
Scully recently earned one of the top honors for an American civilian, as he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He will be presented with the award on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
Sports Illustrated’s editors will select the winner of the award in Decemeber.
