I post links to all things Scully. You know that by now. The Great One (long before someone named "Gretzky" came to prominence) announced that he will be back at the microphone for the Dodgers next year. So the title of "best baseball broadcaster" continues to be safely ensconced in the voice of a man that will be eighty-five when Opening Day, 2013 rolls around.
Mr. Scully was honored with a bobble head doll the other night and, of course, a rainbow appeared (via Deadspin). Then he, er, lobbed the first pitch to a certain Mr. Donald Arthur Mattingly (via MLB).
Anytime we discuss Donnie Baseball on "The Press Box" (Mondays from 7-9 on WGCH), this comes up (skip to 2:22 unless you want to watch Ruben Sierra hit a bomb).
Like most fans of the era, I loved Don Mattingly. Loved the way he carried himself. Loved the way he played. Loved, loved, loved watching him hit, and his defense at first base was incredible. As good as anyone I ever saw (yes, including Keith Hernandez). I went to the last regular season game he played at the Stadium in '95 (we just all had a feeling that it might be the end). But damned if they didn't make the playoffs, winning the first-ever wild card. So...I went to Game 1. In...sane. Nuts. People falling on each other (including a guy who fell on me in the top of the ninth. I wasn't pleased). Bottles and more being thrown. The animals were hungry for a title, and to see Don Mattingly - our guy - reach the promised land.
When he was introduced before Game 1, the place was loud. When he got his first hit, it got louder. Then he homered in Game 2. I wasn't there, but it came through on TV, with Gary Thorne's excited call.
A few innings later, Paul O'Neil (who inherited the throne from Mattingly as "the great leader") hit a big shot.
Incidentally, there were no curtain calls. And if you wondered how that game ended, well, ask Jim Leyritz.
A couple of things...did you notice the winning pitcher? A rookie named Rivera. And did you catch the number two in the Yankees dugout? A kid named Jeter, who was just hanging with the team. He wasn't on the roster.
And I have to be fair - as great as it all was, it was meaningless. That game gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in the best of five, but they lost the next three, including Game 5 on the winning double by Edgar Martinez. And that's - by far - the most significant moment in Seattle baseball history. It saved them. It built them Safeco Field. That is a fact.
But it hurt like hell for me back in New York. Sigh.
While we are looking at great moments, the Mick joined the 500 Club 45 years ago this past May. This is the original broadcast from WPIX (channel 11) with Jerry Coleman on the call. Mantle homers and Coleman shuts up. I love it.
OK, I'm way off track here. Such is the beauty of this blog, I guess. I'm sure Lisa stopped reading somewhere around the end of the first sentence.
Tom Hoffarth's blog is one of my go-to's for media notes (I think I should write a sports media blog - any paper want to pick me up?). He posted a link to this video. Springsteen? Baseball? Postseason? YES, PLEASE!
My friend Dave Fierro filed a report from the Greenwich/Don Bosco scrimmage earlier this week. Greenwich wasn't meant to win. They were meant to learn what it takes to win. Bosco is the very definition of a winning football program. Mission accomplished? We'll find out beginning two weeks from tonight on WGCH.
By the way, I like Dave and the good people at the Greenwich Time, but I've never even so much as seen my name in their esteemed paper. So...I continue to be a Greenwich Post guy!
OK, I'm saying that tongue-in-cheek, of course.
Come on: sing along with me! Black and yellow, black and yellow (if it works for Brian Fantana, then it works for me).
Back to the Greenwich Time for a moment, as Angela Tammaro has stepped down as the AD at Greenwich Academy. I interviewed her once years ago (we're due for a return). One of the truly great field hockey coaches ever.
Well, that's probably enough for now. Oh, "The Press Box" will indeed be LIVE this Monday (no such as Labor Day in my life, unless "labor" means "working", at which point, yes, I will work). And, as I mentioned, football season is two weeks away for us. I'll have lots more on that soon.
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