NEWSLETTER
Vin Scully has been the play-by-play announcer of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ for nearly 70 years. And in that time, he has more than officially cemented himself into the fabric of baseball history.
Unfortunately – well, for all of us, that is – he’ll be hanging up the microphones at the end of the regular season (October 2nd), regardless of the Dodgers’ playoff aspirations.
What that means is that last night’s series finale against the Rockies was Scully’s final Dodgers broadcast from Dodger Stadium … and it was better than anything you could have ever imagined.
When the day began, the Dodgers magic number for the NL West stood at just one, meaning that a win over the Rockies would clinch the division for the Dodgers at home, on Scully’s last night. A fairytale, right?
Well, on that front, things didn’t look great. Heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, the Dodgers found themselves down a run, but it wasn’t long before Corey Seager (who else?) made sure Scully’s last night lasted just a little bit longer:
DOWN TO THE LAST OUT…WHAT DOES @coreyseager_5 DO?
WHAT DO YOU THINK? #STUD pic.twitter.com/WgqScaOzdr
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 26, 2016
Seager tied the game with his 26th blast of the season – a homer he sent flying roughly 400 feet at 112 MPH – and ensured that Scully’s final calls would be (at a minimum) exciting ones.
So they headed into extras, as Scully’s illustrious career joyfully lingered on past regulation. But then, with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, Charlie Culberson stepped up to the plate (with his five career home runs) and did this:
Then…@cculberson23 stepped to the plate and the rest is history. #WeLoveLA pic.twitter.com/X5laamCeCK
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 26, 2016
Culberson may have only hit one home run this season, but it’ll likely be one of the most important and memorable moments of the entire year. Not only did his 392 foot, 104 MPH blast walk things off for the Dodgers, it clinched the division and gave Scully the best possible send-off imaginable.
The champagne celebration would eventually follow, and even Scully was caught participating:
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/780216962609799172
But before any of that, he addressed the Los Angeles crowd for a farewell – with his patented touching, genuine, and attention-commanding charisma. Check it out, but make sure you have your tissue-box nearby:
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/780233930649718784
And in response, the Dodgers stood together to salute one of the game’s greatest, before sending him off to his rightful place in baseball history:
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/780223156388855808
Thanks for everything, Scully, you were one of the very finest:
