A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

dodgers

Thank you, Vin

On Sunday, the longtime voice of the Los Angeles (and before that, Brooklyn) Dodgers, Vin Scully, called it a career after 67 glorious seasons.

His voice is one that is synonymous with baseball, especially those in Los Angeles.

His way of talking baseball was soothing, his stories timeless, and his knowledge unmatchable.

As a Phillies fan, I grew up on the voice of Harry Kalas, one of the “old guard” of announcers. But Vince was always the Godfather of the group.

He began in 1950 — think about that for a moment — and continued through the 2016 season.

His final game was a 7-1 loss to the rival San Francisco Giants. But the interesting part with that is Vin’s love of baseball started when the New York Giants were trounced in a World Series game. He became a diehard Giants fan, well, until he became the voice of the Dodgers.

I’ve always enjoyed being able to watch West Coast games at night to be able to catch a few innings of Vin. Even in his late 80s, he’s still an amazing voice to listen to.

In my recent trip to LA, it was nice to be able to be in attendance for one of Vin’s final home games. Even cooler was a person near our seats had a radio, so we had the chance to watch the game and hear Vin’s call. Well, at least for a few innings.

Here’s looking back on an amazing career and wishing Vin the best in his retirement. Baseball will miss him, that’s for sure.

Below is something shown at the end of Vin’s final broadcast. It’s well worth watching:

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Thanks, Chase

Chase Utley throwing a runner out. I took this photo in 2010.

This one hurts.

Many of you know how much of a baseball fanatic I am. Closer friends know my love of the Philadelphia Phillies.

As things have gone for the worse the past few years, I always knew players could be traded, though I thought one or two were basically untouchable. They’d been here for their careers … they won’t be leaving, right?

Baseball is a business, though. And it’s times like this when I question many things about the game.

For you Yankee fans, imagine a non-playoff year a couple of years ago … and imagine them trading Derek Jeter or Mariano Rivera. How would you have felt?

It’s how I feel with Chase Utley.

Utley was traded to the Dodgers last Wednesday night in a move that feels like somebody kicked me in the gut.

Utley personified Philadelphia. He was a blue-collar player, hard-nosed and played the game the right way. He wasn’t afraid to do what he had to do to win. Needless to say, he was by far one of the most popular players in Philly.

He was definitely my favorite player. Still is. Even if he’s been cast off by an inept general manager who shouldn’t be making any moves at this point. This team doesn’t get better until he’s gone. This is a GM who took over for a Hall of Fame front office person and destroyed it.

And now, this is what happens. In the span of eight months, two franchise players (Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley) have been cast off. By franchise players I mean two who looked to play their careers with the team. Cole Hamels – another franchise face signed for a few more years – was traded in July.

Yet, Ruben Amaro is still making moves. Makes me shake my head.

But this isn’t about a GM who has destroyed something that took a while to build, this is about a 36-year-old second baseman who wanted to remain in Philly and is now being sent to the west coast. Yes, he had to approve the trade. But as I’ve noted to others – when your name comes up in the talks all the time, eventually you are going to look at the writing on the wall and agree to go somewhere, as long as it’s a spot where you would like to be. It’s not like he forced his hand to be traded here, by all accounts anyway.

Chase Utley gave Phillies fans a lot of memories. It’s going to be disgusting seeing him wear blue and white. I’ve seen him once since the trade — his final at-bat in his first game with the Dodgers, when they were no-hit by the Astros.

The game is a business and this proves it. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, that’s for sure.

Thanks for the memories, Chase.

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