Vin Scully Recalls How He Almost Became a US Senator
The beloved L.A. Dodgers commentator’s career in broadcasting has come to an end, but in a parallel universe, he may have become a big political figure in Washington
Vin Scully for president? It could have happened, according to a newly-revealed story from the beloved commentator.
As the Los Angeles Dodgers begin their campaign to end their 28-year World Series drought, Scully, 88, is beginning his retirement after 67 years of unparalleled sports broadcasting. Scully has become known as arguably the greatest commentator of all-time thanks to his penchant for storytelling, but this might be the most amazing tale he’s ever told.
Once upon a time, he was asked to run for the U.S. Senate.
While making the press rounds during the final days of his career, Scully recalled the time he got a call from the California Democratic Party asking if he ever considered a career in politics, NBCLosAngeles reported. The year was 1964, and Democratic Senator Clair Engle had passed away from a brain tumor. The Democrats were looking for an ideal candidate to run in the race to fill Engle’s seat, and in the wake of John F. Kennedy’s famed domination over Richard Nixon in the first ever televised debate, the demand for candidates who could handle the pressures of television was high. Scully, with his experience in broadcasting and his overwhelming popularity, perfectly fit the bill.
While Scully politely listened to their offer and asked them to give him a couple days to think about it, he said that he never once truly considered walking away from his dream job of being a baseball commentator.
“I called them and said, ‘I’ve given it a lot of thought,’ even though I hadn’t,” Scully said. “‘I don’t think I’m qualified and I’m sure I would be happier doing my baseball games.'”
Instead, the Democrats went with JFK’s press secretary, Pierre Salinger, who had been appointed to fill Engle’s seat for the five months remaining in his term. Salinger lost the seat handily to former vaudeville singer and Screen Actors Guild president George Murphy, who became the first Hollywood star to hold political office just four years before Ronald Reagan became Governor of California.
“Murphy won in a landslide and that was virtually the end of Salinger’s political career,” Scully recalled, according to NBC.
So instead of heading off to Capitol Hill in 1965, Scully returned to Dodger Stadium where, that very year, he would help immortalize one of the most famous moments in baseball history: Sandy Koufax’s perfect game.
20 of Vin Scully's Funniest, Most Memorable Baseball Calls (Videos)
Hollywood loves a good story, and now one of the greatest storytellers it has ever served as home to is hanging it up. As longtime broadcaster Vin Scully brings his 67-year career to an end, let's look back at his most famous calls as well as some of his more humorous moments from recent years.
"In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!" Scully's call of Kirk Gibson's home run in the 1988 World Series has become one of the most famous soundbites in baseball history.
Sixteen years later, Scully called Clayton Kershaw's no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, simply declaring "He's done it!" upon the final strikeout.
"He is one strike away from the promised land!" Scully has the ability to come up with the best words for the most dramatic occasion. His call of Sandy Koufax's perfect game is the gold standard for sports radio broadcasting.
That wasn't the only masterpiece Scully called. In 1956, he was on the microphone when Yankees legend Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in the history of the World Series.
Scully was also there when Hank Aaron passed Babe Ruth to capture the most sacred of all baseball records: most career home runs. Scully, ever aware of the gravity of the moment, took the call beyond sports: "A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking the record of an all-time baseball idol."
In the 1980s, Fernando Valenzuela was one of the hottest draws for the Dodgers. A decade after his debut, he pitched a no-hitter that prompted Scully to deliver one of his most famous lines: "If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky."
Now for the lighter side of Vin. Scully remained mostly professional when a foul swing into the dirt sent a ball into the umpire's weak spot, but couldn't resist doing a little squeaky voice as he recovered.
Baseball managers can be prone to expletive-laden meltdowns after bad calls, so Scully did his best to make one of them a little more family-friendly. That is blinkin' impressive.
Scully's experience has taught him that sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all. That's what he did when Yasiel Puig hit his first career grand slam and sent Dodger Stadium into a roaring frenzy.
Vin Scully's stories aren't limited to just baseball. When the Stanley Cup paid a visit to Scully's booth in 2014, he immediately broke into stories about ice hockey back in the 1930s, including his favorite players on the New York Rangers.
Nothing fazes Vin Scully. Not even an earthquake. When Dodger Stadium started rattling and rolling during a game, Scully simply noted that it happened and broke into an anecdote about the 1989 San Francisco earthquake that shook Candlestick Park.
When a dugout-clearing brawl ensues, Scully is the coolest guy in the stadium. Here he is calling a particularly violent fight between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
Some baseball players have turned facial hair into an art form. Inspired by the popularity of beards, Scully launched into an oral history on the evolution of the beard going back to ancient times.
Scully loves telling stories about all baseball players, even those who play for the Dodgers' most hated rival. Here's a story he had on San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner.
Another incredible story from Scully was about how St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny chose to stay in college instead of going to the majors after getting pooped on by a pigeon. It turns out a pigeon can change your life.
In an attempt to keep up with the times, Scully had his broadcast team teach him about Twitter. When he suggested during a broadcast that Dodger fans get catcher A.J. Ellis trending on Twitter, Ellis became the top trending topic in the U.S.
When legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden passed away in 2010, Scully took a pause in the broadcast to inform viewers of his passing and honor him with a quote from Shakespeare.
Scully had the privilege of calling the at-bats of Jackie Robinson back during the Dodgers' years in Brooklyn, and he has many tales about Robinson's challenges when he got started in the majors.
Even with the breeze off of the ocean, day games at Dodger Stadium can be scorchers. Cue a desert joke from Vin.
If you want to listen to Scully at the dawn of his career, you can listen to this complete broadcast he did of a game between the Dodgers and Cubs way back in 1957.
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From World Series and perfect games to stories about beards and bird droppings, Vin Scully leaves behind a broadcasting legacy unlike any other
Hollywood loves a good story, and now one of the greatest storytellers it has ever served as home to is hanging it up. As longtime broadcaster Vin Scully brings his 67-year career to an end, let's look back at his most famous calls as well as some of his more humorous moments from recent years.
