October 2, 2016: Vin Scully Signs Off

October 2, 2016: Vin Scully ends his 67-season MLB broadcasting career by calling his last game for the Los Angeles Dodgers, against their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. It ends in disappointment for L.A., as the Giants win, 7-1.

Scully had been with the Dodgers for 17 postseason appearances, 13 trips to the World Series, and all 5 of their World Championships to that point. He had called games for 12 Hall-of-Famers (as of the 2022 election). He had seen 9 National League Most Valuable Player awards, 12 Cy Young Awards, 14 Rookies of the Year, 43 Gold Gloves, and 15 no-hitters by his team and 13 against it.

He had called games during the Administrations of 12 Presidents (nearly 13), 2 British monarchs, 7 Popes, and 9 Commissioners of Baseball. He had called games through Brooklyn's urban decline, Los Angeles' massive growth, the Red Scare, the Korean War, the Civil Rights Movement, the dawn of the Space Age, the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, the Kennedy and King assassinations, race riots (including in Los Angeles in 1965 and 1992), the Moon landings, Watergate, inflation,  the Iran Hostage Crisis, the Space Shuttle era, Iran-Contra, the end of the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the Millennium, 9/11, the War On Terror and the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina.

He has seen Los Angeles through the constant building of new houses and freeways, smog, earthquakes, wildfires, droughts, landslides and mudslides. He had seen the Lakers and the Clippers move in, the debuts of the Kings and the Ducks, the Raiders move in and out, and the Rams move out and back in. He had broadcast through 8 Governors of California (9, if you count Jerry Brown twice), and 7 Mayors of Los Angeles.

He had called games when O.J. Simpson was a kid in San Francisco, a star college football player in Los Angeles, a star pro football player in Buffalo, a star actor in Los Angeles, a criminal defendant in Los Angeles, a pariah in Miami, and a State prisoner in Las Vegas.

He had called games through MLB's expansion from 16 teams in the Northeast and Midwest to 30 teams coast-to-coast, border-to-over-the-border, the rise of artificial turf and multipurpose stadiums, 5 work stoppages that interrupted regular-season play, the rise of the designated hitter, the end of the reserve clause and the start of free agency, and the addition not merely of black players but of Hispanic ones, Asians, Australians and Dutch-South Americans. (Watered-down talent pool? Ha!)

He had been there for Carl Erskine's 14 strikeouts in a World Series game against the Yankees, and Sandy Koufax's 15 strikeouts in a World Series game against the Yankees. He had been there for Koufax's perfect game for the Dodgers and Don Larsen's, Tom Browning's and Dennis Martinez's against them. He had been there for Don Drysdale's record scoreless innings streak of 58 2/3rds, and he had broadcast alongside Drysdale when Orel Hershiser broke that record with 59, 20 years later.

He had been there for legendary home runs by Bobby Thomson in 1951, Hank Aaron in 1974, Reggie Jackson in 1977, Rick Monday in 1981, Ozzie Smith and Jack Clark in 1985, Kirk Gibson in 1988, David Justice in 1991, and Barry Bonds in 2001 -- all but Monday's and Gibson's against the Dodgers. He saw the Dodgers win on "Black Friday" against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1977, and on "Blue Monday" against the Montreal Expos. in 1981.

He saw Fernandomania, Nomomania and Mannywood. He saw Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker invent the high five. He saw manager Tommy Lasorda, who so often spoke of the Dodgers as a "family," dump Burke, because he was baseball's 1st sort-of openly gay player. And he saw the Dodgers accept Southern California's huge gay community by celebrating Pride Days.

He watched Jackie Robinson and Maury Wills redefine baserunning; and he watched Sandy Koufax, Mike Marshall and Tommy John, each in their own way, redefine pitching. He saw Edwin Snider, whose hair turning white early got him nicknamed Duke; Don Sutton, with his 1970s perm; Steve Garvey, with his 1970s "helmet hair"; and Manny Ramirez, with his greasy dreadlocks.

He broadcast for the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles; against the Giants in New York and San Francisco; against the Braves in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta; against the Expos in Montreal and after their move as the Nationals in Washington. He broadcast World Series games in Brooklyn, The Bronx, the South Side of Chicago, the suburbs of Minneapolis, Baltimore, Oakland, and, of course, Los Angeles, first in South Central at the Coliseum, and then sort-of downtown at Dodger Stadium.

He broadcast games at Shibe Park in Philadelphia and Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, which opened in 1909; and at LoanDepot Park in Miami, which opened in 2012 and is one of several ballparks that could, conceivably, still be used in the 22nd Century. He broadcast at a time when Connie Mack, who was born in 1862 and first played in the major leagues in 1884, was still managing; and he broadcast games pitched by Julio Urías, who was born in 1996 and, if he becomes a star, could still be pitching in the late 2030s. (UPDATE: That may turn out to be a bad example. Urías spent the 2023 season dealing with a domestic violence issue, and may never pitch again. A better example would be Yoán Moncada, who was born in 1995, debuted in the majors in 2016, and became something of a star.)

It is sometimes said that Scully broadcast a game managed by Mack. Since the Dodgers and the Philadelphia Athletics were in different leagues, and this was long before Interleague Play, and the A's won no Pennants between 1931 (in Philadelphia) and 1972 (in Oakland), it would only have been possible in Spring Training. Therefore, if it happened, it doesn't count.

He broadcast games played by David Russell "Gus" Bell, his son David Gus "Buddy" Bell, and Buddy's sons David Michael Bell and Michael John Bell. He broadcast games played by Ray Boone, his son Bob Boone, and Bob's sons Bret Boone and Aaron Boone. (The 3 Joe Colemans don't count, because Joe Sr. never played in the National League, though Joe Jr. and Joseph III, a.k.a. Casey Coleman, did.)

Vin Scully died on August 2, 2022. He was 94 years old.

*

October 2, 2016 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2 at Yankee Stadium. Brian McCann hit a home run, but Matt Wieters took Luis Cessa deep, and Cessa didn't get out of the 6th inning.

It is the last major league game for Mark Teixeira, who had announced his retirement at age 36. He went 0-for-3, grounding to short in the 2nd inning, grounding to 2nd in the 4th, flying out to center in the 6th, and was replaced at 1st base by Tyler Austin in the 7th. Teix retired with a .268 lifetime batting average, 1,862 hits including 409 home runs, 3 All-Star berths, 5 Gold Gloves, and a World Series ring in 2009.

A native of the Baltimore suburb of Severna Park, Maryland, Oriole fans wanted him to sign with them when his contract with the Texas Rangers ran out after the 2008 season. Instead, he became a "rent-a-player" with the Atlanta Braves, and then accepted the Yankees' money. Oriole fans booed him on every visit thereafter, including this last one.

* The New York Mets lost to their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Maikel Franco went 4-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. It was the last game for David Ortiz, and the Red Sox' DH went 0-for-4. I guess he'd used up the last of his steroids already.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins, 10-7 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* Despite being only 20 seasons old, Turner Field in Atlanta hosts its last game as the home of the Atlanta Braves. Fitting the Braves' historical reputation (since 1991, anyway), their pitching carries the day, as they beat the Detroit Tigers in an Interleague game, 1-0. Julio Teherán started, went 7 innings, and allowed no runs on 3 hits, 1 walk and 12 strikeouts. Freddie Freeman's sacrifice fly drove in Ender Inciarte with the only run.

The Braves moved into SunTrust Park, since renamed Truist Park, in Cumberland, Georgia, in Atlanta's northwestern suburbs. Turner Field was converted into CenterParc Stadium, home football field of Georgia State University, with an official seating capacity of 24,333, although the upper deck could be opened in the event that Georgia State becomes good enough to attract more fans than that.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-3 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Later that month, the stadium was renamed Guaranteed Rate Field. In 2025, it was renamed simply Rate Field.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers, 6-4 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. In the top of the 10th inning, Tanner Scheppers loaded the bases, threw a wild pitch, and gave up a double to Curt Casall for the winning runs.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-4 at Coors Field in Denver. Andrew Susac hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the San Diego Padres, 3-2 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Houston Astros, 8-1 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

This being a Sunday, there were also NFL games played:

* The New York Jets lost to the Seattle Seahawks, 27-17 at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots, 16-0 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. It was a false dawn: The Bills finished 7-9, while the Patriots went on to win another Super Bowl *.

* The Oakland Raiders beat the Baltimore Ravens, 28-27 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Cleveland Browns, 31-20 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Carolina Panthers, 48-33 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Like the Braves, the Falcons were moving into a new stadium the next season, even though they hadn't shared a stadium with the Braves since 1991. They moved into Mercedes-Benz Stadium, right next-door, as opposed to the suburbs.

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Indianapolis Colts, 30-27 at EverBank Field (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 27-7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans, 27-20 at NRG Stadium (as Reliant Stadium was then known) in Houston. The Titans were the Houston Oilers from 1960 to 1996.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 43-14 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Detroit Lions, 17-14 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals, 17-13 at University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the San Francisco 49ers, 24-17 at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, California.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the San Diego Chargers, 35-34 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The preceding Thursday night, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Miami Dolphins, 22-7 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The next night, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the Minnesota Vikings beat the New York Giants, 24-10 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

* And the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles had a bye week.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal went into Lancashire, and beat Burnley, 1-0 at Turf Moor.

July 11, 1989: Bo Knows Baseball

July 11, 1989: The Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played at Anaheim Stadium, in Orange County. At the time, Anaheim was still thought of as a suburb of Los Angeles, rather than as a real city.

NBC's broadcast included the premiere of a Nike commercial with Bo Jackson: "Bo Knows":

* It begins with a black screen, and white lettering saying, "Cross-Training by Bo Jackson." Then, "Music by Bo Diddley." With rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley cranking out guitar chords in between:

* We see Jackson, in a Kansas City Royals powder-blue away uniform, taking batting practice, and Kirk Gibson, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the hero of the previous season's World Series, telling the camera, "Bo knows baseball." No argument there.

* We see Jackson, in a Los Angeles Raiders black home uniform, busting through a line in practice, and Jim Everett, then the quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams, saying, "Bo knows football." No argument there.

* We see Jackson in a gym, wearing a T-shirt and shorts, dunking a basketball. He hadn't even played basketball in high school. Then we see Michael Jordan, who helped to make Nike as a brand as much as Nike made him one (although he hadn't yet won his 1st NBA Championship), say, "Bo knows basketball, too."

* We see Jackson on a tennis court, hitting volleys. John McEnroe, not convinced, seems to be asking the camera: "Bo knows tennis?"

* We see Jackson jogging, and Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the 1984 women's Olympic marathon, saying, "Bo knows running." No question about that.

* We see Jackson playing hockey, wearing a Los Angeles Kings black home uniform, but, instead of controlling the puck, he's checking a player with "KC" into the boards. Kansas City had only briefly had a team in the NHL, in the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons, and a lot of people from that area, seeing this commercial, objected. It was later revealed that Bo wasn't actually on skates, he was wearing Nike sneakers. Did Bo "know hockey"? Wayne Gretzky, then with the Kings, skated up to a camera, and said, simply, "No." Bo Diddley was shown laughing, which the viewer is led to believe is at Gretzky's word.

* We see Jackson on a racing bicycle, and 3 women, not identified, but all dressed alike, as if they're on a cycling team, say, "Bo knows cycling."

* We see Jackson in a weight room, lifting. The scene shifts to a beach, with a sign saying, "MUSCLE BEACH VENICE," which was famous as the training ground of fitness icon Jack LaLanne. And 5 solidly muscled guys say, "Bo knows weights." No surprise there.

* Finally, the scene shifts to the music club where Bo Diddley has been playing. Bo Jackson's ability on the guitar is minimal. Bo Diddley looks into the camera, "breaking the fourth wall," as if to say, "You believe this guy?" Finally, Bo Diddley says to Bo Jackson, "Bo, you don't know diddley!"

(A sequel was made: After 6 months of practice, Jackson was able to play well enough that Bo Diddley was able to say, "Bo, I guess you do know diddley.")

*

When the All-Star players were introduced, it was announced that Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies had been voted by the fans as the National League's starting 3rd baseman -- even though he had retired a few weeks earlier. In recognition of this tribute, he made the trip and suited up. When announced, he tipped his cap, and got a standing ovation -- in a ballpark in which he had never played, since the Phils were in the NL, the Angels were in the American League, they had yet to win their 1st Pennant, and had last hosted the All-Star Game in 1967.

The starting pitchers were Rick Reuschel of the San Francisco Giants for the NL, and Dave Stewart of the Oakland Athletics for the AL. The NL scored 2 runs in the top of the 1st inning. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Vin Scully, broadcasting the game for NBC, brought in a special guest broadcaster, who had once called Chicago Cubs games for radio station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa: Ronald Reagan, the former President, who had recently retired to his ranch on the other side of Southern California.

Orange County had been the heart of "Reagan Country." In the years to come, it grew less conservative. But Reagan, not showing any sign of Alzheimer's disease on the night, acknowledged the area's role in his rise, first to be Governor of California, and then as President, by saying that Anaheim Stadium was "the best ballpark in baseball."

It sure didn't look like it: In 1979, seating had been built in the outfield, expanding seating capacity from 43,250 to 64,593 for baseball, and 69,008 for football, so that the Los Angeles Rams could move in. They played there from 1980 to 1994, then left the L.A. area completely, before moving back in 2016. Before the 1997 season, the football bleachers were torn down, and what would later be renamed Angel Stadium of Anaheim was a baseball park again, seating 45,517.

Bo Jackson led off the bottom of the 1st inning for the American League. And, while Reagan was speaking, Reuschel threw Jackson a knuckleball. It was right where Jackson wanted it, and he hit a tremendous drive, onto the tarp on the football bleachers that served as a hitter's background.

It was reminiscent of a drive by another Jackson, Reggie, who hit a knuckleball from Charlie Hough to straightaway center field in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series. This drive was in the same direction, and about the same distance, around 475 feet.

Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox, not really a slugger, also hit a home run, as the American League won, 5-3. The winning pitcher was Angels legend Nolan Ryan, at this point with the Texas Rangers.

At the end of the 1990 NFL regular season, Bo Jackson looked like he might make the Hall of Fame in both sports. But during the Playoffs, he injured his hip so badly that it required a replacement. He never played in the NFL again, and hung on in MLB until 1995.

*

July 11, 1989, as is usual for the day of baseball's All-Star Game, was a Tuesday. Since this was the only baseball game on the day, and all other major league sports in North America were out of season, this was the only score on this historic day.