Vin Scully

A sports fan spends enough summers growing up, and growing middle-aged, in Southern California, and he starts to lose things. His innocence. His annual sojourn to the Lakers' championship parade. His dream of one day quarterbacking the Rams. The Rams. The Raiders too. Summer can be cruel for sports fans seeking a little comfort in consistency, a little solace in stability. Everything changes so quickly here.

Giant vulnerability? The San Francisco Giants rode their starting pitchers to two World Series championships in three years, and starters renowned for their health are at it again. None of the Giants' five starters has missed a turn this season. They have not missed a lot of bats, either. Ryan Vogelsong has an 8.06 earned-run average, the worst of any major league starter. Matt Cain has a 5.43 ERA, and he has given up the most home runs in the majors. This is stunning, considering the relative talent and the home parks involved: The Giants' starters have a higher ERA than the Colorado Rockies' starters.

Giant vulnerability? The San Francisco Giants rode their starting pitchers to two World Series championships in three years, and starters renowned for their health are at it again. None of the Giants' five starters has missed a turn this season. They have not missed a lot of bats, either. Ryan Vogelsong has an 8.06 earned-run average, the worst of any major league starter. Matt Cain has a 5.43 ERA, and he has given up the most home runs in the majors. This is stunning, considering the relative talent and the home parks involved: The Giants' starters have a higher ERA than the Colorado Rockies' starters.

My young colleague, Ben Welsh, who hails from Swisher, Iowa, by way of Columbia, Mo., and Washington, D.C., quickly caught on to what we native Angelenos know subliminally. Los Angeles has its own distinctive voice. It's not the plaintive howl of coyotes in the hills, the frightening screams of the Santa Ana winds or the somnolent lap of surf. Our city's voice, as Ben observed, is a singular human one: Vin Scully's. Its timbre is like no other. Hear a single syllable and, as surely as Billie Holiday is Billie Holiday, Winston Churchill is Winston Churchill and Billy Mays is Billy Mays, you know it's Vin. I think Scully could have been mayor if he'd wanted.

Until now, I have never written a column about which readers have called and emailed with their unanimous and uncritical approval. My "Patt Morrison Asks" column about Vin Scully was a first. Now, it wasn't me they approved of; it was Vincent Edward Scully, the voice of Dodger baseball. Scully has been calling Dodger games longer than Queen Victoria was on the throne, and like the queen's subjects, most Dodger fans have never known a Dodger season without Scully calling its plays.

Vin Scully has been a Dodgers broadcaster since 1950, when the team was in Brooklyn. The current players have grown up listening to his unique voice and many even recall the first time  they heard the broadcasting legend say their name. In the video above, the players talk to The Times about what Scully means to the team - and America. Said Andre Ethier: "Just to hear him talk in person gives you chills every once in a while. " Said Adam Kennedy: "Vin Scully to me is not just California baseball, but baseball in general.

My young colleague, Ben Welsh, who hails from Swisher, Iowa, by way of Columbia, Mo., and Washington, D.C., quickly caught on to what we native Angelenos know subliminally. Los Angeles has its own distinctive voice. It's not the plaintive howl of coyotes in the hills, the frightening screams of the Santa Ana winds or the somnolent lap of surf. Our city's voice, as Ben observed, is a singular human one: Vin Scully's. Its timbre is like no other. Hear a single syllable and, as surely as Billie Holiday is Billie Holiday, Winston Churchill is Winston Churchill and Billy Mays is Billy Mays, you know it's Vin. I think Scully could have been mayor if he'd wanted.

The Vin Scully Watch continues … The day-to-day on the Dodgers' beloved broadcaster is expected to roll on for at least one more day as he recovers from a severe cold. Scully missed his fourth consecutive game Friday, and, unless the chilly weather improves dramatically, is also expected to miss Saturday night's game. Scully reportedly is feeling better and might return Sunday to broadcast the Dodgers' final game of the homestand against the Padres. The Dodgers then leave on six-game trip he was not scheduled to join.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully won't call the Dodgers' series opener against the San Diego Padres on Friday night, marking the fourth consecutive game he'll miss because of a cold. But the 84-year-old Scully's condition is improving and he could return to the booth as early as this weekend, according to a team spokesman. In Scully's absence, Charley Steiner and Steve Lyons will continue to call the games on Prime Ticket. Rick Monday and Kevin Kennedy will work the radio broadcasts on AM 570. RELATED: Why I owe Vin Scully cookies (and you owe me)

Re "Patt Morrison Asks: Vin Scully, pitch perfect," Opinion, July 11 Reading the interview with Dodgers announcer Vin Scully brought back memories of my single-parent upbringing in L.A. My mother did her best to get a male influence into my life - Boy Scouts, summer camp and more. When the Dodgers came to town, I had no idea what a professional baseball team was. I started listening to the golden voice of Vin Scully on the radio. His smooth delivery and the way he did not take for granted that you knew what he was talking about were not only entertaining but instructional.

Over the decades, films about legendary baseball players have sometimes knocked it out of the park (1942's "The Pride of the Yankees" about Lou Gehrig) or struck out (1948's "The Babe Ruth Story. ") The latest baseball biopic to step up to the plate is "42," opening Friday, which chronicles Jackie Robinson's (Chadwick Boseman) breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947 when he took the field as a Brooklyn Dodger. Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully, 85, who has been with the Dodgers since 1950, knew Robinson and Dodgers executive Branch Rickey.

I lost my dad decades ago. But then this guy comes along who likes to sing as he walks, a jolly Irishman who laughs and cracks wise with a hint of the devil in him and I remember that guy. We become friendly, but then who isn't a friend of his? He gives me his email address, and I don't know, do you believe in signs from beyond? Or remarkable coincidences? Vin Scully uses an email address that makes you believe his nickname is "Red. " My dad's name was John, but everyone called him "Red.

  Former Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza has been surrounded by controversy since the release of his book, "Long Shot" recently. In it, he took a shot at iconic broadcaster Vin Scully, blaming Scully for Dodgers fans booing him before he was traded in 1998. That will be just one topic of discussion during today's live video chat with Dodgers writer Dylan Hernandez today at 10:30 a.m. As Hernandez wrote on Monday, "In his book, "Long Shot," Piazza described Scully as instrumental in turning the fans of Los Angeles against him during the contract stalemate that led to his trade to the Florida Marlins in 1998.

- Calling Vin Scully "a class act" and saying he had "the utmost respect" for him, Mike Piazza on Monday defended what he wrote in his recently released autobiography about the Hall of Fame broadcaster. In his book, "Long Shot," Piazza described Scully as instrumental in turning the fans of Los Angeles against him during the contract stalemate that led to his trade to the Florida Marlins in 1998. Piazza wrote that Scully "was crushing me" on the air, a charge Scully vehemently denied.

PHOENIX - At the Dodgers' spring-training complex as a coach on Italy's World Baseball Classic team, Mike Piazza said he would “love” to speak to Vin Scully. Scully was at the facility for the Dodgers' first television broadcast of the spring. “I'd love to see him,” Piazza said. Earlier in the month, Piazza released an autobiography in which he said that Scully turned the fans of Los Angeles against him while he was negotiating a new contract. Unable to reach an agreement with the Dodgers, Piazza was traded to the Florida Marlins in 1998.

Dear Mike Piazza: You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger And you don't mess around with Vin. (Thanks, Jim Croce) Douglas Galloway Cherry Valley :: Mike Piazza vs. Vin Scully 1. Piazza: Loyalty to the almighty dollar. Scully: Longtime true-blue Dodgers employee. Advantage: Scully 2. Piazza: Steroid speculation may keep him out of the Hall of Fame.

Vin Scully will call his first home game of the season Sunday, the Dodgers announced on Saturday. The 84-year-old Hall of Fame broadcaster missed the Dodgers' first six home games, including Saturday's, because of a severe cold. He didn't call the season opener for only the second time in his 63 years with the club. Clayton Kershaw is scheduled to start for the Dodgers on Sunday in their series finale against the San Diego Padres. Charley Steiner and Steve Lyons will call Saturday's game for Prime Ticket's telecast.

Before the Internet, before cable television or even color TV, there was radio. Back then, we sat by the speakers and listened to radio announcers make pictures with words. Using just a little bit of imagination, we could actually see the things they were describing to us. Vin Scully is one of those master storytellers. He came of age in Brooklyn, N.Y., in the era before television took over sports coverage. In 1958, he moved to Los Angeles. Ever since, he's been telling us all about the adventures, triumphs and defeats of that band of blue-capped men known as the Dodgers.

Another day, and no news that Mike Piazza has blamed Jonas Salk for polio. Not a word that Jack Nicholson is the core problem for the Lakers, Sandy Koufax is the cause of Clayton Kershaw's hip problem, that Walter Cronkite was actually on the grassy knoll. Mother Teresa remains safe, but the day is early. He'd probably like to go after the pope for something but is not sure should whether to focus on the lame duck or await a new pontiff. Not sure what's the upside to taking on beloved icons, but Piazza is blazing his own trail.

Mike Piazza would never exist today. He would have to be created by the Hollywood machine that once embraced him. He was taken in the 62nd round of the 1988 baseball draft. There are no longer 62 rounds in the draft. He was given a private tryout at a locked Dodger Stadium as a favor to his family friend and quasi uncle, Tom Lasorda. There are few managers remaining with the longevity and power to make such arrangements. After two minor league seasons, he was no better than an average Class-A catcher, yet he was promoted to a higher Class A the following spring.