Kevin Costner was one of many who spoke at Dodger Stadium during a ceremony that honored the broadcast career of the great Vin Scully ahead of the game on Friday night.
Costner stepped up to that podium and let it all out — for almost 10 minutes.
[mlbvideo id=”1183998083″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]
The actor opens dramatically, with music playing in the background (I think it’s the Field of Dreams music):
“We will miss you, my friend. We will miss you in our radio, in our cars, in our backyard. You’ve been a gift to Los Angeles and to baseball itself. It seems forever that you’ve been guiding us through your personal window into the game.
“How lucky we were that day in Brooklyn when the microphone passed into your hands. You were the chosen one, the skinny redhead who stood on the shoulders of the biggest kid, ready to look through the knothole in the fence to describe to us what was going on. You were better than a golden ticket. You invited us all to pull up a chair, spend the afternoon, then proceeded to walk us into the next century.”
Scully looks like he’s about to break down into tears, people in the stands are crying, everyone’s crying, oh god. But guess what, Costner keeps going and doesn’t stop. Jump forward a little more and he’s talking about how Scully’s a poet.
“For 67 years you managed to fool us into believing you were just a sports announcer, when in fact you were really a poet, a wordsmith. It was a nice trick, and after almost seven decades, you might’ve thought we would’ve caught on. But now the masquerade is over and the jig is up. We’re all taking deep breaths Vin, and we’re all struggling with our own emotions as we admit we’re down to our last three outs with you.”
Costner then had Scully laughing as he said that no one can ever take away the moment Scully called his “perfect game” when they both starred in the baseball movie For Love of the Game. He charges onwards:
“We know that you have to move up to the press box. Don’t mind us as we turn in our seats to look up one more time. Forgive us our silly wave, our clumsy toast, our personal salute. And should your mind begin to wander as innings start to slip away, we already forgive you. If the memories become too thick, then just stop and look around. You’re our George Bailey, and it has been a wonderful life.”
Costner ends on this note:
“You leave us and the game, Mr. Scully, but not without leaving a lasting impression, and not without taking a piece of our broken baseball heart.”
A piece of our broken baseball heart. We’ll love you forever, Vin Scully.
[wibbitz id=”b1f49a8f78e984db7a3ba8d42da3a937c” autoplay=”false”]
