Vin Scully died on August 2 at the age of ninety-four. He called games for the Los Angeles Dodgers for sixty-seven seasons. Many consider him the greatest baseball announcer of all time.
His story reads like a great American novel. Scully was born in 1927 in the Bronx, New York. He served two years in the Navy, then attended Fordham University, where he played briefly on the baseball team and called baseball, basketball, and football games for the local radio station.
One month before he graduated in 1949, he got a job with the CBS affiliate in Washington. The next year, the legendary broadcaster Red Barber brought Scully in as the Dodgers’ No. 3 broadcaster. At the age of twenty-five, he became the youngest broadcaster to call a World Series game when the Dodgers lost to the New York Yankees in 1953.
When Barber left to work for the Yankees in 1953, Scully took over as the Dodgers’ primary announcer. He called some of the most memorable events in baseball history: Sandy Koufax’s four no-hitters, Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, Hank Aaron’s 715th home run, Bill Buckner’s error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, and Kirk Gibson’s pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series.
However, it was Vin Scully’s faith that we should especially remember with gratitude today.
A devout Christian, he often said his faith helped him cope with the deaths of his first wife, Joan, from an accidental medical overdose, and the death of his son Michael in a helicopter accident. When he was honored at Dodger Stadium in 2016, his final season with the team, he mentioned his childhood dream of being a sports broadcaster.
Then he said, “I had a child’s dream, and the grace of God not only gave me the fulfillment of my dream, he gave it for sixty-seven years.”
Part of his signoff for his final Dodgers broadcast included this message:
May God give you for every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.
Vin Scully’s faith sustained him across many hard places and a very long career. You may not be as legendary as Vin Scully in the eyes of society, but your soul matters to God as much as if you were the only person who had ever lived. His Spirit is ready to fill the “infinite abyss” that only he can fill.
However, he honors the freedom he has given us. If anyone opens the door of their heart, Jesus will “come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).
Vin Scully is now in his eternal home. So will we be one day, if Jesus is our Lord. In the meantime, our Lord wants us to be at “home” with him in our hearts as we make him our king and Lord.
Is your heart at home with your Father today?