By bluefeet Creative Director Kerry Seal
We’re saying goodbye to Vin Scully this season, the long time Dodger announcer. I’ve been a huge fan since I was a teen, years before I found my way to Los Angeles.
In all the celebrations and commemorations, it dawned on me Vin might be the best storyteller I’ve ever heard.
Much has been written about how Vin made you feel like you were actually at the game. And it’s true, he did. But that was only the beginning for me.
I felt like I was in the dugout, in the press box, behind home plate. I felt like I knew the players, not just as athletes on a pedestal, but as real people I could relate to.
How did he do it? Storytelling.
But not your ordinary sports announcer give-me-the-stats stories. No, I’m talking real-life storytelling.
Details about the neighborhood the player grew up in, where he went to school, what his parents did for a living. Does he have brothers or sisters? Sure he talked about their successes, but some of their struggles too.
Vin’s stories are so much a part of the team lore, you want to retell them as much as you want to wear the team jersey.
Heck, you didn’t even have to like baseball to enjoy listening to Vin.
My mom couldn’t have cared less about baseball, but if she was in the room and heard Vin start telling a story about a player she would immediately stop and ask: who is he talking about? Point him out for me. All the sudden she was rooting for that player to succeed.
Today there are a hundred ways to watch, listen or follow a game, to get immediate access to any statistic you would ever want, but understanding the game of baseball is about to get harder.
There is no app for Vin.
Watch a few of Vin’s best stories here.
