The Dodgers have announced their plans to celebrate broadcaster Vin Scully over their final homestand of the season this weekend.
A celebration entitled "Vin Scully Weekend" to honor the Ford C. Frick Award winner and "Voice of the Dodgers" will include special tributes during the team's four-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies. The festivities will begin Friday with "Vin Scully Appreciation Day," as the first 50,000 fans in attendance will receive a letter of appreciation written by the broadcaster himself.
There will also be a pregame ceremony on the field honoring Scully, who is winding down his 67th consecutive season as broadcaster for the Dodgers. The ceremony, hosted by fellow Dodgers broadcaster Charley Steiner, will feature a video tribute by Bob Costas, as well as a star-studded lineup of special guests including Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Costner, fellow Frick Award winner Jaime Jarrín, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax.
:: Farewell, Vin Scully ::
"No tribute we could conjure could do justice to the gifts Vin has presented the Dodgers during the course of his unmatched career," said Dodgers executive vice president and chief marketing officer Lon Rosen. "However, we believe we have created a weekend that will wholeheartedly honor Vin and enable fans to demonstrate their appreciation for a man who has meant so much to baseball and to all of us.
"Vin's putting poetry to baseball has connected him to our fans for nearly seven decades, his legacy will carry on for decades longer and will make him part of Dodger baseball forever."
The stadium gates will open at 4:40 p.m. PT Friday, and fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 6:30 for the ceremony, which will also be carried live on AM 570 KLAC radio and on the KTLA, SportsNetLA and SportsNetLA's Spanish-language telecasts.
The celebration will continue Saturday, when the first 50,000 fans through the gates will receive a limited-edition commemorative coin featuring Scully's likeness and his famous opening line, "It's time for Dodger baseball." Gates will open at 3:40 p.m. PT
Sunday's matinee at 1:10 p.m. PT will feature the final home broadcast for Scully, who began broadcasting Dodgers games in 1950, when the team was still located in Brooklyn. The first 50,000 fans in attendance will receive a special commemorative edition of Dodger Insider magazine celebrating the life and career of Scully. The stadium gates will open at 11:10 a.m.
Longtime fans of Scully who live outside the Los Angeles metropolitan area will still be able to enjoy the legend's emotional final call Sunday at Dodger Stadium. MLB.com and the MLB.com At Bat app will stream the eighth and ninth innings live as Scully says his final goodbyes to Dodger Stadium -- the ballpark that has served as his place of work since the team began playing there in 1962.
Scully's final broadcasts will take place during the Dodgers' final series of the season against the Giants from Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in San Francisco. Scully stated last week that he will not call any postseason games, even if the Dodgers make the playoffs.