The team announced that Finn Scully, Hall of Fame announcer on The Dodgers Show in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, died Tuesday at the age of 94.
“We’ve lost an icon,” Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a statement. “Vinn Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant man, not just as an announcer, but as a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers. He loved his family. His voice will always be heard and etched in our minds forever.” I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandy. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this very difficult time. We will truly miss Finn.”
Scully served as the Dodgers announcer for 67 years, including eight years in Brooklyn before the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1958. His tenure with the Dodgers was the longest a sports broadcaster had ever spent with any single team.
A native of the Bronx, Scully was an announcer for 25 World Championships, 20 no-bats and 12 All-Star games. He served briefly in the United States Navy before beginning his career as a broadcaster in 1949, when he called play by play for the college football games.
Scully began broadcasting Dodgers games in 1950, joining the legendary Red Barber and Connie Desmond. He became the youngest man to broadcast a World Championship match in 1953, when – at age 25 – he replaced Barber at the Fall Classic between the Dodgers and New York Yankees.
Scully has received numerous awards and honors during his famous career. He was awarded the Ford C. Frick Award, awarded annually by the Baseball Hall of Fame for “merited service by baseball broadcasters” in 1982 and was named the Best Sportscaster of All Time by the American SportsCasters Association in 2009.
Scully also received the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award, which recognizes achievements and contributions of historical significance, in 2014. He became the second player not to receive the award, joining Rachel Robinson (2007).
In 2001, the Press Box at Dodger Stadium was renamed in Scully’s honor, and in 2016, the City of Los Angeles renamed the portion of the road running from Sunset Boulevard to Ballpark Road as “Fin Scully Avenue.”
The Dodgers also honored Scully before opening at home in 2016, his final season as anchor, with a pre-party attended by many of the organization’s legendary figures, including Sandy Koufax and Tommy Lasorda.
“I know this is the perfect time,” Scully said inside Dodger Stadium before the game on April 12, 2016. I kept thinking, ‘I’ll be 89 when the season ends. If I go for another year, it will be. 90.’ I don’t think that’s fair to the listeners. That would be and I would appreciate it.”
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