Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — I’m not crying. You’re crying. In a pre-game ceremony that was equal parts touching encomium and Irish wake, the Dodgers sent off Dodger broadcast Vin Scully off to Blue Heaven in style. The notoriously late-arriving Dodger Stadium crowd was in position well before the 6:45 ceremony began.
The night began with a moving rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” from Christian singer Mandie Pinto. Generally, these pregame anthems are noted by a handful of players from each side, who take a spot near their own dugout, but for this night, the entire roster of both the Dodgers and the Padres lined up along the baselines as Pinto belted out the song.
Then, after a moment of silence, the crowd’s attention was riveted on an emotional video tribute to the late legend, narrated by current radio play-by-play man Charlie Steiner. It chronicled Scully’s journey from calling a college football game from the roof on Fenway Park to his final games with the team some 67 years later here on the West Coast in 2016. And, for fans who may have forgotten, it included the storybook ending of Vin’s final call in Dodger Stadium, complete with its walk-off homer in extra innings off the bat of Charlie Culberson to clinch the Dodgers fourth straight NL West crown.
After that, the entire Dodger team gathered in front of the mound and manager Dave Roberts addressed the crowd. After a few memories of Vin, Roberts, Roberts pointed to the broadcast booth, where current announcers Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser unveiled a sign beneath the press box window. In a play on the “I’ll miss you” sign that Vin unfurled in 2016, the sign read simply “Vin, we’ll miss you.”
Finally, the memorial came to a conclusion when Roberts led the entire crowd in Vin’s signature line “It’s time for Dodger Baseball.” It was a fitting tribute to a one-of-a-kind talent. And after the ceremony, it was indeed time for Dodger baseball
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