Wednesday, August 10, 2022

TVXOHOF MEMORIAL TRIBUTE - VIN SCULLY, "THE VOICE OF DODGERS BASEBALL"


From CNN:
Legendary broadcaster Vin Scully, the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers for more than six decades, has died at the age of 94, the team announced Tuesday.

“We have lost an icon,” said Stan Kasten, the President and CEO of the Dodgers in a statement.

“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,” Kasten said.
By Seán Federico-O'Murchú, CNN
Updated 7:52 AM EDT, Wed August 3, 2022


If Scully only had the baseball games he called to his credit, no matter how many thousands, even if they were World Series games, that wouldn’t make him eligible for the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame.  But when you’re “the Voice of Baseball,” and various TV series come to you to be that Voice in their shows set in Toobworld, then even though you are only heard but not seen, that Voice becomes the unifying factor between those series, which might not have had anything else in common.

But he did show up in physical form in at least two of his appearances as himself.

In remembrance of Vin Scully as that Voice in Toobworld baseball, the Television Crossover Hall of Fame honors him with this tribute and induction.

VIN SCULLY

From Wikipedia:
Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located in Brooklyn) and ending in 2016.


Scully's tenure with the Dodgers was the longest of any broadcaster with a single team in professional sports history, and he was second only to Tommy Lasorda (by two years) in terms of number of years associated with the Dodgers organization in any capacity. He retired at age 88 in 2016, ending his record-breaking run as the team's play-by-play announcer. In his final season behind the microphone, Scully announced most Dodgers home games (and selected road games) on SportsNet LA television and KLAC radio.

He was known for his distinctive voice, lyrically descriptive style, and signature introduction to Dodgers games: "It's time for Dodger baseball! Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good (afternoon/evening) to you, wherever you may be." He is considered by many to be the greatest baseball broadcaster of all time, according to fan rankings, Bleacher Report and Fox Sports.

In addition to Dodgers baseball, Scully called various nationally-televised football and golf contests for CBS Sports from 1975 to 1982, and was NBC Sports' lead baseball play-by-play announcer from 1983 to 1989. He also called the World Series for CBS Radio from 1979 to 1982 and again from 1990 to 1997.

On the evening of August 2, 2022, Scully died at his home in Hidden Hills, California, at the age of 94.

Here are the TV series episodes, listed as they would have played out on the Toobworld timeline, during which the fictional televersion of Vin Scully's Voice was heard or he was actually seen:


Alcoa Premiere
- Flashing Spikes (1962)
... Announcer

From the IMDb:
An old ballplayer, thrown out of baseball due to a bribery scandal, becomes friends with a young phenom. The younger player is at first tainted by his association with the old-timer, but eventually the truth about the scandal is revealed.


Brooklyn Bridge
- Death in Brooklyn (1991)
... Voice of the [Brooklyn] Dodgers (voice)

O’Bservation:

While Alan was stuck taking part in a minyan for his great uncle Ira, his brother Nathaniel was outside listening to Scully call the National League pennant clincher on Sunday, September 30, 1956.

General Electric Theater
- The Playoff (1960)
... Sports Announcer

O'Bservation:
I know nothing about this teleplay, let alone how Vin Scully factors into it.

Michael Shayne
- Strike Out (1961)
... Vin Scully

From Wikipedia:
Shayne investigates the death by sleeping pills of Danny Blake, a former baseball star crippled in an accident, and uncovers a clandestine affair between Danny's wife Carol and his brother Marty, as well as an embezzlement. Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully and pitchers Sandy Koufax, Ed Roebuck, Larry Sherry and Stan Williams appear as themselves.



The New Breed
- To None a Deadly Drug (1961)
... Baseball Announcer (voice, uncredited)

O'Bservation:
A waitress was listening to a game Vin Scully was calling when Karl Lippert and Felix Pascal came into the diner to discuss a crime which they committed.



Mister Ed
- Leo Durocher Meets Mister Ed (1963)
... Announcer (voice)

O'Bservation:
At the beginning of the episode, Vin Scully is calling the first game of a Dodgers/Giants double-header in San Francisco which the Dodgers lost, 4-3.


The Fugitive
- Man on a String (1964)
... Baseball Announcer (voice, uncredited)

From the IMDb:
Heard in the background of the scene where Kimble tells Lois Nettleton's character he must leave is none other than Vin Scully announcing a baseball game.


The baseball game called by Vin Scully on TV features references to real-life ballplayers Maury Wills, Willie Davis, and Wally Moon (all of whom played for the L.A. Dodgers throughout the early 1960s), as well as pitcher Warren Spahn, who played for the Milwaukee Braves through the end of 1964. The specific events described in the game, however, are fictional and do not match the events of any real-life Milwaukee/L.A. game in which these players were involved.

O'Bservation:
I love when there are differences between similar people and things shared by Earth Prime and Earth Prime-Time.  Fictional episodes of shared TV shows, Emma Thompson being born in Akron, that sort of thing.  So this game never took place in the real world, highlighting that Vin Scully's televersion is not the actual Vin Scully.

The Joey Bishop Show
- Joey and the L.A. Dodgers
(1964)
... Announcer for the Dodgers-Mets Game (voice)

Here was an actual appearance in the flesh!

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
- Vida Blue, Johnny Carson, Roman Gabriel, Andy Granatelli, Joe Namath, Sugar Ray Robinson, Bill Russell, Doug Sanders, Vin Scully, Jill St. John, Willie Shoemaker
(1971)
... Guest Performer


Highway to Heaven
- Popcorn, Peanuts and CrackerJacks (1985)
... L.A. Dodgers Radio Announcer (voice, uncredited)

O’Bservation:
While they were driving along, Mark really wanted to hear the Dodgers on the car radio, but the static was horrible.  “The Boss” interceded and he got a clear signal, but now it was in Spanish.  Mark sarcastically thought that was a cute trick.  But at least "The Voice Of Dodgers" was recognizable despite the static before he was replaced by a Spanish-speaking announcer.

The X-Files
- The Unnatural (1999)
... Baseball Announcer (voice, uncredited)

From the IMDb:
Mulder is Chris Carter's mother's maiden name. Mulder's first name, Fox, is the name of Carter's childhood friend. Scully is the name of the LA Dodgers' sports announcer Vin Scully, to whom Carter listened as a child. In episode #6.19, The Unnatural, the voice announcing the Dodgers game is none other than Vin Scully.

From 'The X-Files' Wiki:
Although budget problems initially prevented Vin Scully from being hired as the baseball announcer, the famed sportscaster - who Dana Scully was named after - agreed to meet an X-Files sound crew in his Dodger Stadium broadcast booth and record the part for free.

SCENE 2:
FBI HEADQUARTERS
(Basement corridor for the X-Files office. There is [a] baseball game on a small TV which is sitting on a cleaning cart in the hall. Vin Scully is announcing for the LA team.)

VIN SCULLY: It's a gorgeous day for baseball here in the City of Angels and I'm told it is a gorgeous day all over our republic today-- from Bangor to Bellflower, from Amarillo to Anchorage, the sun is shining and it's a perfect day to play baseball... That ball is ripped... and it's going, going, gone...

Thank you for what you brought to the game, Mr. Scully.


Good night and may God bless….

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