Q and A with Vin Scully

Excerpt from Los Angeles Times. Click here to read the full interview.

Question: Which team did you root for as a kid?

Answer: I was born in the Bronx and raised in an area called Washington Heights. I was able to walk from my grammar school to the old Polo Grounds where the Giants played, so I grew up a rabid Giants fan. Because I was a member of the Police Athletic League and the Catholic Youth Organization, I could go to games free. And if I couldn’t go with either organization, it was 55 cents to sit in the bleachers. I would save soda pop bottles, cash them in and get the 55 cents.

Q: Who was your favorite player?

A: Mel Ott.

Q: Did you ever envision being a baseball announcer in those days?

A: I would sit a million miles away from home plate and look up at that old press box and dream, thinking, “Boy, to be up in that booth.” God willing, it happened.

Q: So as a kid, you never went to Ebbets Field?

A: No, it was too far away. My family never had a car. Never. As a kid, I was always a Giants fan. Confession is good for the soul. First time I ever went to Ebbets Field, I was working a game there.

Q: That was in 1950. When, during that summer seven seasons later, did you realize the Dodgers were really, truly leaving?

A: There was constant talk. People who were far more informed than I made me believe it was serious. I was shocked, pure disbelief.

My first concern, to be honest, was, “Am I going to go with them?” I didn’t want to lose my job. There was a great deal of pressure, I understood, on [owner] Walter O’Malley to hire someone like Bob Kelley or Tom Harmon or any of the other fine announcers out here. But he was adamant that he was bringing his broadcasters with him, me and Jerry Doggett. Had he weakened and decided to try and make a good impression by going with Southern California announcers, I would have been out of a job.

Still, I was leaving my family, and all my friends. The only plus was that I was going to get married the following February, so I was going to start a new life anyway. But it was kind of a shaky feeling to leave everything that I knew. I was a little scared that I wouldn’t be accepted in Southern California.

By that time, I had at least been accepted in New York. You know, it takes a while. The best thing I had going for me was that New York had so many Southern announcers, Mel Allen from the South, Red Barber from the South, Russ Hodges from the South, Ernie Harwell from the South. And here is this kid who played stickball in the streets and I think people kind of hoped I would do all right. I think that was a little extra push that I had.

So, I was split in half. I wanted to stay, but I needed the job. There weren’t very many jobs like mine. And while it was sad to leave, the overwhelming relief that Mr. O’Malley would take me to L.A., that overpowered everything.

Q: What do you remember about the last game at Ebbets Field?

A: I remember Danny McDevitt was our pitcher and I remember the Dodgers won, but it was extremely gloomy.

We had an organist and she had a little brown bag with her with something in it to drink, I assume. As she got sadder, the music reflected it. That set the mood. It was a very sad night.

When I walked out of there, I thought, “Wow, I’ll probably never come back here again.”