In difficult times, we seek sage words from familiar and comforting voices. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more familiar and comforting voice than legendary broadcaster Vin Scully's. And as for sage words, no baseball broadcaster has provided more.
So it was a big lift to the spirits of many across America and the world to hear from the 92-year-old Scully as the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dodgers posted a short video message from him on Twitter, and many were immediately transported back to better times just by hearing his voice.
"Hi everybody, and a very pleasant good afternoon to you, wherever you may be," Scully said, adding an apology that the phrase was force of habit from his unmatched 67-year play-by-play career.
"Wherever you may be -- that means most of you are home, as I am, waiting hopefully for Opening Day," Scully continued. " ... These are tough times, certainly I don't have to tell you that. But having lived as long as I have lived, I've seen this country -- the greatest country on earth -- get off its knees, literally and figuratively, when they were down and out during the Great Depression, and when they were on their knees after [the bombing of] Pearl Harbor.
"And what happened then was they unleashed a tiger, and the tiger was the whole country pulling together and getting not only back on its feet, but saving the whole world. For you and I, yeah things are tough, but we'll be up off our knees soon. ... Above all else, smile, because when you smile, it makes everyone else feel better."
Scully was the Dodgers' play-by-play broadcaster from 1950 through 2016, and was NBC Sports' voice for baseball, including many World Series. His unforgettable calls, such as his description of Kirk Gibson's legendary home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, along with countless others in some of the biggest moments in the game's history, reverberate in the memories of baseball fans everywhere.
Scully's reassuring, grandfatherly tone gives us a welcome message in a time that has been so trying for so many.