Vin Scully Will Call His Final Game In Los Angeles On Sunday

Vin Scully will call his last game at Dodger Stadium Sunday afternoon.

The final game of his broadcasting career - which has spanned 67 years - will come on the final day of the regular season - Sunday, October 2 - in San Francisco. Scully said before the 2016 season began:

As a little kid who was born and raised in the streets of New York, one that grew up literally and figuratively in the Polo Grounds and was a rabid Giants fan — I can tell you that, it's good for the soul. I think I would love to finish in a game between the Dodgers and the Giants.

Scully has said he will not announce any of the Dodgers' postseason games.

Jayson Stark, ESPN:

When Vin Scully first walked into the Dodgers' broadcast booth, Winston Churchill hadn't started his second stint as the prime minister of Great Britain. Connie Mack, a man born while Abraham Lincoln was president, was still managing in the major leagues. The transistor radio -- a gizmo that would turn the man at the microphone into a California icon -- wouldn't be invented for another four years.

That was April 1950.

The Dodgers still played baseball at Ebbets Field. And Vin Scully was a 22-year-old rookie broadcaster, sharing the booth with the legendary Red Barber. He was a young man about to embark on a journey even he could have never envisioned: from East Coast to West Coast, from crackling AM radios to the fuzz of black-and-white TV to the splendor of "living color" to baseball games streaming across your smart phone.

So how do we capture the magnitude of Vin Scully, the meaning of Vin Scully, the miracle of Vin Scully? Not with our words, but with the words of the men and women who have known him best, whose company he has shared, whose lives he has touched, whose careers he has described and even transformed.

We spoke with numerous people who fit that description. We listened to them laugh, regale us and even fight back tears. So here are their stories. And here is his story, The Story of Vin Scully, from the hearts, minds and voices of those who have fallen under the spell of baseball's most beloved voice.

Ron Cey (former Dodgers third baseman): One of the things I was introduced to here early, when I started playing here, was the transistor radio. ... Coming out to listen to Vin Scully, and lot of people would bring their transistor radios to the ballgame. Because we had so many people who got attached to that philosophy, all those transistor radios would be on at the same time. It would resonate and become like a loudspeaker.

Jerry Reuss (former Dodgers pitcher): I was pitching a game for Houston -- it was either '72 or '73. It was a weeknight game, and there was maybe a crowd of 20,000 there. But as I stood there on the mound ready to deliver a pitch, for whatever reason it caught my attention (from the sound of those transistor radios) that Vin was in midstory. ... It was the only time it ever happened, but I can hear by his cadence, his inflection, that he was in midstory. It just caught me. So I stepped off the mound, threw down the resin bag, rubbed my hand, and I could still hear him tell the story. ... He got his point out, people laughed, and without missing a beat, he said, "Now Reuss is ready to deliver." ... That's the kind of respect that Vin Scully deserves.

Rob Bradford, WEEI, September 21, 2016:

If Eduardo Rodriguez is going to pitch like this, bring on the Cubs. ...

If the Red Sox can get the Rodriguez we saw in their 5-2 win over the Orioles, then that's it. That's the final piece. We can officially proclaim that this team -- the one we are witnessing play baseball at Camden Yards this week -- should win the American League.

"I think there's growing confidence in our clubhouse daily," said Red Sox manager John Farrell after his team's sixth straight win. "We've responded to a number of challenges, whether it's on the road, whether it's coming from behind in big ballgames in the division, those are key. When you achieve those or succeed in those, yeah, that's a snowball effect that takes place."

Jeff Sullivan, Fangraphs, September 20, 2016:

It's funny — it's just about impossible to make the Red Sox look even average, by any split. Overall, they've hit the best. They're best against righties, and fourth against lefties. They were best in the first half, and they've been third in the second half. They're first at home, and third on the road. They're best when ahead in the count, and second when behind. They're third with the bases empty, and best with runners on. They're best against starters, and second against relievers. They're best against finesse pitchers, and best against power pitchers. They're best against ground-ball pitchers, and second against fly-ball pitchers. They're third against fastballs, and best against non-fastballs. The Red Sox offense does everything against everybody. It's not completely in another universe, but outside of a player or three, there's no weakness to be found. It's as frightening as a lineup can get.