BBTF's Newsblog Discussion :: Vin Scully: “The Wolves Are Circling Closer”

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Vin Scully: “The Wolves Are Circling Closer”

Does embedding video work here?
Gonna give it a try…

Earvin 'Gold Stars' Johnson Posted: December 16, 2008 at 09:17 PM | 46 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: announcers, dodgers, hall of fame, history, media, television

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1. TomH Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:16 PM (#3030973)

a true national treasure

2. xanthan Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:22 PM (#3030979)

One of my favorites.

3. frannyzoo Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:22 PM (#3030980)

I know this guy is uber-popular, but anyone who says "they have no airs or pretensions" has both. Hell, we all have airs and pretensions, and anybody claiming otherwise kinda bothers me. Not to mention my hatred of the Dodgers. Not that this hatred has anything to do with my disdain for Scully. Not at all. Frickin' Dodgers.

4. HowardMegdal

Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:29 PM (#3030987)

I know this guy is uber-popular, but anyone who says "they have no airs or pretensions" has both.

So do people who use "uber" unnecessarily.

Take that, Scully-critic!

5. Halofan Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:31 PM (#3030990)

Hey franny, from an Angel fan, go die.

6. HowardMegdal

Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:33 PM (#3030995)

Ouch- and I thought I was being harsh!

7. Russlan will never be fond of Jason Bay Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:35 PM (#3030996)

8. Jimmy P Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:44 PM (#3031003)

Hey! Stop it with the video player on the front. That's as bad as ESPN.

9. Crispix Attacks Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:52 PM (#3031019)

Hey! Stop it with the video player on the front. That's as bad as ESPN.

This video starts up automatically in some people's browsers? Not for me.

Please don't compare anything to the ESPN website, that is a grievous insult. ESPN.com and the Onion AV Club are the only two websites that I cannot load at all on this computer because it leads to a near-freeze situation for five minutes with just about every click.

10. Harold Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:55 PM (#3031023)

This video starts up automatically in some people's browsers? Not for me.

Yes, it starts automatically for me (FF3), and it probably at least starts downloading for most people. I like the use of video here, but it should probably be below the jump, so that everybody viewing the newsblog doesn't download it.

11. Earvin 'Gold Stars' Johnson Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:57 PM (#3031024)

Hell, I'm surprised the embedding even worked.

12. bfan Posted: December 16, 2008 at 10:58 PM (#3031026)

I don't know much about Vin Scully, but from that interview, he strikes me as one of the most gracious and humble persons you could ever see, in that position. That someone could watch that 220 seconds and be critical of it and him re-affirms my faith in the bitter side of humanity; that person could look at Don Larsen's perfect game and be critical of his 3 ball count on one of the batters.

13. We don't have dahlians at the Palace of Wisdom Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:03 PM (#3031034)

I only watched the whole thing in the hopes that he'd take his clothes off.

14. Guapo Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:24 PM (#3031063)

Only vaguely related, but if I ever become a conspiracy theorist, I think my primary cause will be trying to convince everyone that the Kirk Gibson World Series home run was staged.

If you look at the video, he seems to barely flick his wrists at the ball. You know he's not producing any power from his lower body. Yet the ball somehow ends up 10 rows deep in the right field stands.

In other words, I don't believe what I just saw.

15. Orangepeel Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:30 PM (#3031071)

#11, are you serious? He can't say one small thing about one guy? Get off your high horse.

16. Steve Sparks Flying Everywhere Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:30 PM (#3031072)

I'm amazed how often Vin Scully references something in literature like T. S. Eliot or in this video Tolstoy. He might be the most intelligent broadcaster in the game today. It's a treat being able to listen to him call a game.

17. Sam M. Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:35 PM (#3031081)

Yet another reason to regret the fued between O'Malley and Moses . . . . Much as I love my Mets, had the Dodgers gotten their stadium, and stayed, I'd have undoubtedly grown up a passionate Brooklyn Dodgers fan and spent my childhood and all these years since listening to Vin Scully as the voice of my team.

And that would have been grand.

18. We don't have dahlians at the Palace of Wisdom Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:37 PM (#3031084)

While I agree that Scully is incredibly worldly and infuses poetry into his words in ways that most people can only dream of I don't think "longer than Tolstoy's War and Peace" qualifies as an intelligent, literate reference. It's a cliche.

19. bfan Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:39 PM (#3031087)

Could Brooklyn sustain an MLB franchise? I think NYC could sustain 3, given its size; is Brooklyn that 3rd place in the NYC metro area?

20. Repoz

Posted: December 16, 2008 at 11:40 PM (#3031090)

He might be the most intelligent broadcaster in the game today.

Why...has Steve Physioc retired?

(stumbles to feet)

21. Obama Bomaye Posted: December 17, 2008 at 12:03 AM (#3031120)

is Brooklyn that 3rd place in the NYC metro area

North Jersey would seem more likely (Newark or Meadowlands)

22. Obama Bomaye Posted: December 17, 2008 at 12:04 AM (#3031122)

#11, are you serious? He can't say one small thing about one guy? Get off your high horse.

??????????

23. Barry`s_Lazy_Boy Posted: December 17, 2008 at 12:09 AM (#3031128)

flashblock.

24. Earvin 'Gold Stars' Johnson Posted: December 17, 2008 at 12:28 AM (#3031140)

??????????

I think he meant #12 - but I'm still willing to be insulted.

25. _ Posted: December 17, 2008 at 12:53 AM (#3031158)

I revere Vin Scully, but I have to chuckle when I see someone praising his literateness. It's obvious he's read a book or two, but I can assure you that every single literary reference you're likely to hear from him, he's been doing for years.

TS Eliot: "April is the cruelest month." Uses it every year.
Robert Burns: "Best laid plans of mice and men." About once a week.
John Greenleaf Whittier: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been.'" Maybe once a month.

Etc., etc.

And any time a batter fouls a ball off his foot you're likely to hear the Nippy Jones shoe polish story from the 1957 World Series.

Not that I'm complaining. I love him unconditionally. I'll miss all of that when he's gone.

Edit: Sorry; not when a batter fouls a ball off his foot, but when he's hit by a pitch on the foot.

26. Keith Law Posted: December 17, 2008 at 01:22 AM (#3031179)

Yes, it starts automatically for me (FF3),

Dude, NoScript.

27. YR Denies Jesus Montero Posted: December 17, 2008 at 02:05 AM (#3031200)

NoScript is king. I don't see what the point would be of using FireFox if you weren't going to take advantage of the many outstanding plug-ins that improve your browsing experience. NoScript and AdBlock are the best thing since floating soap for bathtubs.

28. Steve Sparks Flying Everywhere Posted: December 17, 2008 at 02:20 AM (#3031210)

I know that Vin Scully uses a lot of the same sayings and stories all the time. I wasn't implying that he was some literary genius. I think the people who read BTF are all pretty educated and intelligent people, so we understand the references that he makes. But to the average American, the sayings are lost on a lot of people.

Maybe I just have a pessimistic view of people. Maybe more people understand what Vin Scully says. All I know is that I sure don't hear Rex Hudler ever quoting poets. In fact, he might be the anti Vin Scully.

29. Bitter Calculus Instructor Posted: December 17, 2008 at 02:33 AM (#3031219)

[25] Don't forget "They also serve those who sit and wait." He uses that one a ton.

30. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 17, 2008 at 02:37 AM (#3031225)

"They also serve those who sit and wait."

When waiters are sitting down, they usually aren't serving people.

31. Anthony Giacalone Posted: December 17, 2008 at 02:49 AM (#3031234)

Scully is a god. It's not easy to be nearly-universally respected by your peers.

32. Shredder Posted: December 17, 2008 at 03:01 AM (#3031241)

The night I spent with my dad watching Scully and John Wooden on stage together will probably be one of the most memorable nights of my life.

33. Miko Supports Shane's Spam Habit Posted: December 17, 2008 at 03:15 AM (#3031256)

Shredder--what night was that? Those guys are/were great. I'm glad I got to go to Wooden's camp...he ran practice for about an hour a day.

34. Miko Supports Shane's Spam Habit Posted: December 17, 2008 at 03:18 AM (#3031257)

Also, it's a weird title...there's no intro to the video to set context...Is he dying? I know he's 81, but still.

35. Ivan Grushenko of Hong Kong Posted: December 17, 2008 at 03:30 AM (#3031266)

is Brooklyn that 3rd place in the NYC metro area

North Jersey would seem more likely (Newark or Meadowlands)

I don't see why they both couldn't sustain MLB franchises. The Tri-State Area had an estimated GMP of $1.1 trillion in 2005, nearly double Los Angeles and triple Chicago and five times SF/Oakland. Four franchises in the area would not only be profitable, but good for baseball. Add a third in the LA area too.

36. Flynn Posted: December 17, 2008 at 03:36 AM (#3031275)

Vin's been broadcasting games for 60 years. The guy's allowed to reuse a few literary quotes now and again. Of course he himself is a literary treasure. You could certainly find worse examples of found prose.

I think NYC could sustain 3, given its size; is Brooklyn that 3rd place in the NYC metro area?

Ooh, this argument. I say yes; I remember someone writing a lengthy rebuttal to that idea, but I still say yes. A well-located Brooklyn park could be more convenient to lower Manhattan than the Bronx.

37. Tulo's Fishy Mullet (mrams) Posted: December 17, 2008 at 03:51 AM (#3031286)

IIRC, he was a English major at Fordham.

38. Shredder Posted: December 17, 2008 at 04:14 AM (#3031296)

Shredder--what night was that? Those guys are/were great. I'm glad I got to go to Wooden's camp...he ran practice for about an hour a day.

TJ Simers hosted an evening with Wooden and Scully back in June. TJ moderated while the other two held court. It was a fundraiser for a couple of children's' hospitals. I recapped it back when it happened.

39. akrasian Posted: December 17, 2008 at 04:15 AM (#3031298)

The thing I admire about Scully is how hard he continues to work. He could mail it in and no one would say anything considering his status but I learn more about Met players watching a Dodgers broadcast than I do watching a weeks' worth of Met telecasts. It's amazing.

My understanding is that he has an assistant whose primary job is to scour all resources for information about every player - not just major leaguers, but minor leaguers who might get called up in a season or two. He'll go through the notebooks before every series, finding what is interesting, and then often talking to the players about it to confirm things.

So not just working hard, but working smart. I'm not sure why in this internet era that everybody doesn't do that. And I'm especially not sure why every team's announcer(s) don't talk to their own team's players about their interests off the field. I guess those new fangled two man teams would rather spend their time bantering about their own off the field interests than actually discuss what interests listeners.

40. Buzzards Bay Posted: December 17, 2008 at 05:24 AM (#3031339)

it's the Scully gift of revelation
sui generis
the liberation in the baseball mystery

that's line-up protection

41. Mayor Blomberg Posted: December 17, 2008 at 06:11 AM (#3031368)

He was an English major, and the wolves circling closer to the campfire is an allusion to Jack London, "The Law of Life." He blew that one right by y'all.

42. Walt Davis Posted: December 17, 2008 at 08:34 AM (#3031422)

Back in the 80s, a young boy in Curacao by the name of Andruw Jones used to dream of living in a land in which he could buy Twinkies -- you know, those tasty cream filled angel-food cakes from our friends at Hostess. When he finally got to America, Andruw rushed right down to the corner store which was owned by a man named Hawkins. How ironic that now, all these years later, who should come into the game to face Andruw Jones but LaTroy Hawkins?

43. RMc is the loyal supporter of the MLB event Posted: December 17, 2008 at 10:56 AM (#3031454)

The next time the Dodgers and Tigers play an interleague series, somebody should fix it to have Scully and Harwell call a game together; the fact it hasn't already happened is a crime.

44. The Bones McCoy of THT Posted: December 17, 2008 at 01:11 PM (#3031476)

Nicely done Walt....MBS worthy. It's even funnier when you read it using Scully's voice.

Best Regards

John

45. Rants Mulliniks (formerly Cold Prosimian) Posted: December 17, 2008 at 02:09 PM (#3031497)

I love Vin Scully too. I just don't understand how he has managed to speak non-stop, for 2-3 hours a day, 6 months a year for 60 years without losing his vocals cords. There is never even a 10 second period, other than commerical breaks, during his broadcasts when he's not talking.

46. Slinger Francisco Barrios (Dr. Memory) Posted: December 17, 2008 at 02:48 PM (#3031519)

Robert Burns: "Best laid plans of mice and men." About once a week.

I can think of no better way to work the word "agley" into the general population.

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Vin Scully: “The Wolves Are Circling Closer”

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