Vin Scully calls it a career

Sunday marked the last major-league game by Los Angeles Dodgers play-by-play announcer Vin Scully after 67 seasons behind the booth.

The Dodgers made the playoffs, but Scully, 88, insisted his last game before retiring would be a regular-season one. So a 7-1 Dodgers loss Sunday at San Francisco was the finale.

Here are a few Scully highlights from Sunday’s game:

Scully’s home newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, had this to say about a man who’s been broadcasting games in L.A. since the Dodgers moved there from Brooklyn in 1958:

Scully has been in Angelenos’ ears ever since, from South Central to Beverly Hills and from Antelope Valley to San Pedro, announcing games with the friendly intimacy of a favorite uncle — the one with great anecdotes who enjoyed your time together as much as you did. A consummate professional, he mastered the art of shutting up when the weight of a moment was self-evident but also filled the slower passages with his deep knowledge of the game and anecdotes and side stories (aided by a small staff) that added a breadth unrivaled by other sports announcers. Like the time Jonny Gomes was attacked by a wolf, or when Satchel Paige threw a baseball through a hole in the center field fence from 60 feet, six inches away to win a bet of a bottle of bourbon.

And Scully has, for the vast majority of us, always been there. More than 85% of the nation’s population was born after Scully began calling ballgames. No one is irreplaceable in a business, which is exactly what Major League Baseball is, but Scully comes awfully close.

And check out this column written five years ago by sportswriter Joe Posnanski, which Scully proclaimed “the best story anyone has ever written about me.” Do yourself a favor and read it.

Scully had threatened to retire before, but he made it the 2016 baseball season would be his last because he wanted to depart while his health was still good.

It was only a couple of years ago when by chance I watched a free MLB.com game that featured the Dodgers. Even then, when Scully was more than 85, I marveled how well he described the action on the field, his pacing, his preparation and when to pick his spots to tell fun stories. He still was the best in the business.

For almost 60 years, many a Route 66 traveler heard Scully on the radio while driving past Dodger Stadium or, if they got lucky, caught a ballgame there.

Alas, that no longer will happen.

But Scully literally spent a lifetime providing memories that will last a lifetime. His influence on the Los Angeles region — and baseball — won’t fade quickly.

(Image of Vin Scully, voice of the Dodgers, shown on a big screen at Dodger Stadium by Ken Lund via Flickr)