#Baseball commentator professional#

In accepting the award, Scully spoke about meeting then-Pope Pius XII at the Vatican in 1956, which he said, despite his nervousness, solidified his commitment to his faith.īorn in the Bronx in 1927, Sully’s long life was marked at various points by tragedy. He also earned a Personal Achievement Award from the Catholic Academy of Communication Professionals in 2016. Scully was a 2009 recipient of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Cardinal’s Award, which recognizes “the selfless, self-effacing and talented people” of the archdiocese. We will miss him greatly and always treasure our friendship with him,” McKenna said.

#Baseball commentator professional#

“As he did often with any charitable organization, Vin never said ‘no.’ His response was always, ‘Whatever you need.’ He supported our efforts to increase a Catholic presence in professional sports, including his willingness to record a Rosary CD in 2016 that has helped bring so many people to the Rosary and advance CAC’s mission. Ray McKenna, Catholic Athletes for Christ’s president and founder, mourned Scully in a statement Wednesday. In 2016, Scully - a devotee of the Virgin Mary - created a two-CD audio recording of the rosary. The sales benefitted the outreach organization Catholic Athletes for Christ, which ministers to high school students. Despite being a private person outside of the recording booth, preferring to spend time with his family, he often would allow charities to auction off the privilege of having lunch with him to raise money for good causes, such as supporting people with Down syndrome. In 2020, he donated much of his collection of baseball memorabilia, collected over the decades, to raise money for charity. Scully was active in his parish and numerous philanthropic endeavors. Scully was famous for calling games alone - that is, without a color commentator - so the pictorial pope’s silence was apt. For at least one of his games, he placed a framed portrait of Pope Francis in a chair next to him. Jude the Apostle Church in Westlake Village, California, Scully was instrumental, along with Catholic Athletes for Christ, in arranging for Masses to be celebrated in the media interview room of Dodgers Stadium. But more importantly - at least to him - Scully was a devout Catholic who found in his faith a source of joy and comfort and sought to share it with others through personal kindness and philanthropy.Ī longtime parishioner at St. Vin Scully, who called Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games for more than two-thirds of a century, died Tuesday at his home at the age of 94.Ī gifted orator and storyteller who was dubbed a “poet-philosopher of baseball,” Scully deftly narrated numerous momentous events in baseball during his 67 seasons as a broadcaster.