Long before the days of SportsNet LA or Fox Sports West or PrimeTicket, and even long before Dodger games were aired on local or network television, if you wanted to catch a Dodger game you either had to drive to Dodger Stadium or you listened to the games on the radio which, of course, were called by Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully.

Many of today’s veteran (old) Dodger fans fondly recall their childhood memories of falling asleep at night with their transistor radios (Google it, kids) under their pillows with a hard (and extremely uncomfortable) white plastic earphone shoved in their ear – this long before the advent of ear buds.

Back then there was no tape delay, games were broadcast live in real-time, although even that term hadn’t been invented yet. In other words, the events of the game were called by Scully immediately as they were unfolding – without any delay whatsoever. As a result and because of their extreme portability, thousands of Dodger fans would bring their small transistor radios with them to Dodger Stadium to listen Vin’s call of the games while they were actually watching the games live and in person. As you might imagine, this caused an echo effect throughout the entire stadium. It didn’t matter if you were in your seat, in the line at the concession stand or even in the restroom, you never missed a minute of action and could hear Vin’s golden voice everywhere in the ballpark – and it was great.

The best trade deadline signing of all was signing Vin Scully to return for an unprecedented 66th season.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

As a result of this unique phenomenon (which was often referred to as ‘The Vin Scully effect‘), the players themselves could also hear Vin’s call of the game while they were on the field or in the dugout. And while this may seem like a great thing for the players, it occasionally was not.

During the recently concluded three-game series with the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium, longtime Braves broadcaster and Dodger legend and Hall of Famer Don Sutton shared a Vin Scully memory which is quite humorous now but probably wasn’t at the time.

“I remember pitching here [at Dodger Stadium] one night towards the end of my career and my curveball wasn’t working, I mean it was awful,” said Sutton. “I knew it was bad, my teammates knew it was bad, everybody knew it was bad. But when I heard Vin Scully’s voice echoing through the stadium saying ‘Don’s curveball isn’t working very well tonight’ I knew I was done. I heard it as clear as if Vin was standing right next to me. Needless to say I didn’t do very well that night.”

During the 2013 Old-Timers Game, Sutton spent a few moments with his former boss and current Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Obviously it wasn’t Vin Scully’s fault that Sutton had a bad night and he readily acknowledged this. But is goes to show just how Vin Scully touches all of us – even the Dodgers all-time wins and strikeout leader, who is one of only 10 players in the 130-year history of the franchise to have their number retired.

“Vin is the best there’s ever been,” said Sutton. “Dodger fans are so very lucky to have him.”

Amen, Don. Amen.