Broadcasting legend Vin Scully will return to LA Dodgers booth in 2015

Iconic Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully yesterday announced his return to the Dodger broadcast booth for an unprecedented 66th season in 2015. The announcement was made by several Dodger players on Dodger Vision during the team's game against the Atlanta Braves.

“It is very difficult to say goodbye,” said Scully. “God willing I will be back next year. Over the years I have been blessed to have so many friends including those that sit in the stands and listen as well as those at home, who listen and watch. It is just too hard to say goodbye to all these friends. Naturally there will come a time, when I will have to say goodbye, but I’ve soul-searched and this is not the time.”

Scully’s incredible 65 years of service mark the longest tenure in his field.  For Dodgers fans, most of whom have grown up listening to him their whole lives, the announcement was a welcome relief.

However, the frustrating fact still remains that the majority of fans currently are unable to hear Scully's syrupy-smooth brilliance on the air.

In other words, because the Dodgers are being televised primarily on Time Warner Cable, only a small fraction of Southern California's fans -- an estimated 30 percent --  are able to view the games.  So until the dispute is rectified with Time Warner and the other local cable companies, Scully's genius will not be heard by the very people who care to hear him the most.  That sad reality is absolutely sinful.

Scully will continue to call all nine innings of the team's television broadcasts on Time Warner Cable’s SportsNet LA, with the first three innings of each of his games also simulcast on the radio.  For those without Time Warner, those three radio innings will be the only access fans have to Scully, other than the handful of nationally-televised Dodgers games.

Scully began his professional baseball broadcasting career in 1950 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. During his unmatched career, he has called three perfect games, 25 World Series, and 12 All-Star Games.

Iconic moments called by Scully include Kirk Gibson’s miraculous Game 1 homer in the 1988 World Series, Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Hank Aaron’s record-setting 715th home run, Sandy Koufax’s four no-hitters, including a perfect game, the scoreless-inning streaks of Dodger greats Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser, and just this year, the first career no-hitter by two-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.

“I’m obviously not alone in saying that I’m overjoyed Vin will be coming back to the booth in 2015,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten. “Our fans deserve the very best and Vin’s voice, knowledge, experience and passion for broadcasting Dodger baseball are second to none.”

When Scully began broadcasting, the Dodgers had yet to win a World Series. Three years later, at the age of 25, he became the youngest person to ever broadcast a World Series game. In 1955, he had his most memorable moment behind the microphone, as he called the Dodgers' first and only championship in Brooklyn.  In Los Angeles, Scully has called Dodgers World Championships in 1959, ’63, ’65, ’81, and ’88.

Recently members of Congress weighed in on the cable dispute, proposing the suggestion that the various companies should submit to binding arbitration.  Although Time Warner has agreed to the proposal, DirecTV has not.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services