Vin Scully is the Real Deal

Much has been said about Vin Scully, the Dodger Broadcaster since 1950. Though I have heard so much praise directed towards him, before yesterday, I had never heard him broadcast a game at length. Yes, I have heard some of his famous calls, but never a routine, regular season game.

Thanks to MLB TV, I have listened to Vin Scully for the past two days, and the guy is legit.

The Dodgers are playing the Mets in a three-game series and MLB TV is only feeding me the LA broadcast. I suppose I am grateful for this, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hear the living legend.

Vin Scully is a one-man broadcast team. He has no color commentator. He has no reporter roaming the stands.

The man has so much knowledge, not to mention a made-for-TV voice. Here are some highlights from the past two nights:

-Scully told a story of how Carlos Beltran once bought a monkey. When Carlos heard that Monkeys could live for over 40 years, however, he promptly returned it.

-He called a triple a "bellywhopper"

-He explained how the big wave of Cuban defections to play baseball in the states only came after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Before then, conditions for baseball players in Cuba were so favorable they had no reason to leave. I didn't know this.

The best aspect of Scully is that at a time when there are so many talking heads on TV who don't back up there statements (see Morgan, Joe), Scully uses a wealth of statistics to analyze the teams and players. Whether analyzing the Mets woes at home, or a batters woes at the plate, Scully does a great job of balancing stats and commentary.

He knows so freaking much, both about history as well as the current league, and I learned a ton from the few innings I listened to him. If you ever can watch a Dodgers game on TV, I highly recommend it, regardless of who they're playing.

Now, if only the Mets would start playing some good ball.