ConNiPtioNs

Baseball in the 21st century

On Thursday I took advantage of MLB TV's free preview to watch the Phillies at the Dodgers on the computer. As a longtime Phils fan, I was hoping to get the Phillies feed with Hall of Fame broadcaster Harry Kalas, but they were carrying the Dodgers feed.

I had the rare pleasure (for easterners) to listen to the "Voice of the Dodgers" 1982 Ford C. Frick Award Winner Vin Scully call the game. Scully called the whole game--alone. I didn't really even notice until about the third inning. Statistics and anecdotes flowed easily between pitches. He talked almost non-stop for the entire game, with an occasional five or six seconds of silence.

Scully started with Dodgers in 1950 in Brooklyn and moved west with them in 1958. He is one of the last great voices of the game that is still around, after Ernie Harwell's retirement and the death of Jack Buck last year.

Of course I grew up listening to Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn doing the Phillies games so that will always be the baseball soundtrack that I hear in my head.