Vin Scully

The annual "In the Spirit of the Game" gala, which raises money for baseball scouts who have retired or lost their jobs and need assistance, will be held Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. Increased focus on statistical analysis has resulted in the elimination of some scouting positions across baseball in recent years. "It absolutely cost scouts jobs," said Dennis Gilbert, chairman of the Professional Scouts Foundation, which is hosting the event. However, that trend could be reversed.

Once in a great while, you know a phone call is going to be enjoyable long before you reach for the handset. Could you have a bad phone call when it's directed to Los Angeles' greatest treasure? Vin Scully picks up his cell, sees my name flash on his screen and is giving me the warmest of greetings long before I can even get around to the reason for the call: Happy 85th birthday, Vin. Scully has been receiving phone calls all day Thursday at the Los Angeles home he shares with his wife, Sandra.

Some of the other notable sports statues around Southern California: STAPLES CENTER: Jerry West Magic Johnson Wayne Gretzky Chick Hearn Oscar De La Hoya ANGEL STADIUM: Gene Autry Michelle Carew USC: John McKay John Wayne Ricky Bell Tommy Trojan Traveler UCLA: Jackie Robinson SANTA ANITA: Seabiscuit John Henry Zenyatta Bill Shoemaker Laffit Pincay Jr. ...

This column is dedicated to the 42,473 who were at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night when the flame finally flickered out. You missed out. Yes, we couch potatoes saw you, squirming and grimacing and putting your hands over your eyes as the drama churned like boiling water. If your spine didn't tingle, then you don't have one. Sure, part of us sitting at home were envious of not being there, of not being amid the crowd in the perfectly climate-controlled Southern California night when so much mattered.

Click here to download TV listings for the week of Sept. 16 - 22 in PDF format This week's TV Movies SATURDAY Good Morning America (N) 7 a.m. KABC McLaughlin Group 6:30 p.m. KCET Piers Morgan Tonight  2 a.m. CNN The Chris Matthews Show Middle East events; Romney campaign missteps: David Ignatius, the Washington Post; Helene Cooper, the New York Times; Katty Kay, BBC; and Major Garrett, National Journal. (N) 5:30 a.m. KNBC SUNDAY Today Celebrating 25 years of weekend "Today" with clips of memorable interviews, stories and profiles.

It took a long time before legendary Dodgers Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully would agree to let the club put his likeness on a bobblehead doll. So it figured that once he went along with it, he'd turn the ceremony honoring him and his figurine into something different. Instead of the traditional first-pitch ceremony before Thursday's game, Scully went to the mound, faked a huge windup and then walked over to the third-base line, where 15 of his 16 grandchildren were assembled, ages 5 to 22. He handed the ball to 15-year-old Mackenzie Luderer - who also sang the national anthem - and she relayed it to the child next to her. And so on and so on, until the last child handed the ball to Grandpa Vin. He flipped it to Manager Don Mattingly while the crowd stood on its feet and roared.

It seems every Dodgers fan has a reason for why Vin Scully is the greatest announcer of all time, and that includes Stan Kasten, president and chief executive of the Dodgers. Sitting down with Times columnist Bill Dwyre on Wednesday, Kasten said he isn't thinking about who will be behind the microphone once Scully calls it a career. Instead, Kasten, like a lot of Dodgers fans, is still in awe at what the 84-year-old announcer can accomplish on any given summer night. Kasten, who's been around long enough to be rarely surprised when something happens in the baseball world, told a story to his audience that illustrated Scully's knowledge of the game.

Legendary broadcaster Vin Scully said Sunday he decided to return for an unprecedented 64th season calling Dodgers games in 2013 because of "that constant love affair I have with the game. " "Second, I was so impressed by the [team's] new ownership," Scully told reporters in the Dodger Stadium press box that bears his name. "What they've done is revitalize the city, revitalize the team, the fans and myself," Scully said, referring to the recent major trades and player signings by Guggenheim Baseball Management, which bought the club in May. "As everybody knows, they want to win and they want to win now, so I'd like to hold on with both hands and see just how far they take this ballclub," Scully said.

In a year that has been so improbable, the incredible has happened. Not Magic. Not Hanley Ramirez. Not Adrian Gonzalez. Better than all of that. Vin Scully is coming back. The Dodgers are expected to announce Sunday that Scully will return to the Dodgers' broadcast booth next season. Scully has been the sound of summer in Southern California for more than half a century, from transistor radios to Twitter. We are blessed to be able to pull up a chair and spend part of another year with him. He will call it a career after one of these summers, and a city will lose its voice.

Your browser does not support iframes.   Ah, the wonders of Vin Scully never cease. He's a Renaissance man who no doubt could have chosen a multitude of professions to entertain the masses, but we've been blessed in Los Angeles for the past 54 years to hear him broadcast the Dodgers. He's 84 and still delighting his listeners, as evidenced during Monday night's televised Dodgers game against the Rockies. It was the night that "blinkin'" officially replaced "bleeping" as the substitute word of choice for that certain expletive.