Vin Scully's Message of Hope in the Age of COVID-19 is Perfect and We Don't Deserve Him
By Sam Dunn
In these strange days of social distancing and panic over the coronavirus, you're not wrong to feel compelled to latch onto any shred of normalcy or constancy that hasn't already been ripped off the shelves. And if you're a baseball fan, you're suddenly in luck, because there's nothing and no one more singularly constant than Vin Scully.
The iconic Dodgers broadcaster, who retired after the 2016 season after calling games for an incredible 67 years, is now back with some much-needed wisdom, all delivered with his trademark eloquence. As he told LA Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke, the COVID-19 pandemic might just bring out the very best in us.
Vin Scully can still connect and comfort in a manner unmatched by any other sports figure in L.A.'s history.
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 23, 2020
And, man, do we need some connecting and comforting.
Here are some words from Vin Scully to help get you through these hard times.https://t.co/kcVrJgg7eI pic.twitter.com/cPtR3xYkbJ
"I think people are especially jumping at the opportunity to help each other, I believe that’s true, so that’s kind of heartwarming, with all of it," he said. "It brings out some goodness in people, and that’s terrific. That’s terrific.”
It's times like these that we feel in full force just how essential baseball is in our lives. It marks the passing of winter into spring. From March through November, it's the thing that's always there. Leave it to Scully to ratchet up its value into something operatic.
“When the anthem is playing and you’re standing up in the booth waiting to go on the air, and this big crowd is quiet listening to the anthem, and then when the anthem ends and the crowd’s noise bursts forth like some fountain that had just been released, like a gusher in an oil field," he told Plaschke of the feeling of Opening Day. "I get goose bumps from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes... there’s really almost nothing like it, except maybe getting married or having your first child.”
.@BillPlaschke called up legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully to see how he was holding up during the #coronavirus pandemic.
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 23, 2020
Wouldn't you know it, Vin was full of comforting words of wisdom. https://t.co/kcVrJgxIDi
We've all felt it, Vin. We just never managed to phrase it quite as elegantly and all-encompassingly as that.
All the more evidence to suggest that we need your one-of-a-kind essence to help us along as we remain shut indoors and fumbling for purpose.
Can we get this guy a podcast already?