Vin Scully to Return / Dodgers to Play at Yankee Stadium in 2013

In Bill Shaikin’s column today he revealed that Vin Scully will announce today that he’ll return for another season.  ( LINKED HERE  )I’m certain that there will be a fair amount of hoopla about the pending announcement.  Vin has got to be re-energized by the recent moves and the belief that the Dodgers will be thick in the pennant race each year due to this ownership groups proactive stance to make the team better.

There was a short blurb in Shaikin’s pieced that caught my attention:

“The Dodgers are scheduled to play at Yankee Stadium next season. What could be better than Scully making a rare trip to the East Coast, weaving stories of Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle in between pitches to Matt Kemp and Derek Jeter?”

Dodgers last trip to the Bronx was the 1981 World Series

That might be the road trip worth taking.  After 15 years of inter-league play, the Dodgers finally go to the Bronx for a series that should have been played more than once already.  I’m no fan of Inter-league play, but a Yankees-Dodgers contest in Yankee Stadium is about as nostalgic and historic as you can get.  It’s a shame and travesty that the Dodgers never returned to original Yankee Stadium one last time before the wrecking ball took it down.

Dodger Press Release just out, Posted below:

August 26, 2012

HALL OF FAME BROADCASTER

VIN SCULLY TO RETURN FOR 64^th SEASON

 LOS ANGELES – Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, one of the most revered figures in Los Angeles sports history, will return to the broadcast booth for an unprecedented 64^th season in 2013, it was announced. Scully will again call all Dodger home and road games in California and Arizona.

 “The new ownership of the Dodgers has revitalized the city, the team, the fans and myself,” Scully said. “I am so convinced of their great purpose and leadership that I eagerly look forward to joining them in pursuit of the next Dodgers championship.” 

 Widely regarded as the finest sportscaster of all time, Scully’s 63 years of service mark the longest tenure in his field. While he calls all nine innings of the team's television broadcasts on PRIME TICKET and KCAL 9, the first three innings of each of his games are also simulcast on AM 570 Fox Sports LA.

 “The Dodgers are ecstatic to have Vin back with the team in 2013,” said Dodger Chairman and Owner Mark Walter. “Vin is a treasure to the Dodgers, baseball and the city of Los Angeles and having him continuing his work in the broadcast booth next season means a great deal to all of us.”

 “It was a treat to be able to listen to Chick Hearn through my years with the Lakers,” said Dodger owner Earvin Johnson, “and it’s been great to be able to listen to Vin work his magic in the broadcast booth since I came to Los Angeles in 1979. Generations of Angelenos have been blessed to have these Hall of Famers in their midst.”     

 “We’re thrilled to know that in our quest to heighten the fan experience at Dodger Stadium, the fan experience everywhere Vin’s voice can be heard will continue to be maximized through at least the 2013 season,” said Dodger President and CEO Stan Kasten.

 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 no-hitters, 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, Hank Aaron’s record-setting 715^th home run, Sandy Koufax’s four no-hitters, including a perfect game, and the scoreless-inning streaks of Dodger greats Don Drysdale and Orel Hershiser.

 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 called Dodger World Championships in 1959, ’63, ’65, ’81 and ’88 and he was elected the top sportscaster of the 20^th century by the non-profit American Sportscasters Association.