Vin Scully SI profile: Get to know the man behind the mic

quote:

---

“First of all, Red Barber had said to me when I first started, ‘I don’t want you to get close to the players, because if you get too close to the players, it will change your descriptive powers. Suddenly you see your man make an error, and you’ll try to make up for it and it would become a twisted broadcast.’

“The one fellow I got close to, despite Red’s rulings, was Ralph Branca. And Ralph was going to marry after that game—the next week. And he and [his fiancée] Ann and I went around the world together, but that’s another story. But I was closer to them, and I had a couple of dates with Ann’s roommate, and so, we got closer.

“So when the ball was hit, there was a home run, and I instinctively looked down at the club box because my friend Ann was there. And I watched her very deliberately, carefully open up her purse, take out a handkerchief, close the purse, open the handkerchief and bring it up to her face. And I really felt sorry for her and for everybody.

“And then in those days, in order to get to the clubhouse, you had to walk all the way to centerfield, and you went up the stairs and went in the door. And then there were, like, three steps to go up to the next level. And there was my pal [Branca], sprawled on the steps, head down, arms extended. And I actually had to tiptoe over him. So, it was really tough.

“Anyway, it was deathly quiet and I thought, I can’t hang out here. So I went up into a trainer’s room, and there was Jackie [Robinson] and Pee Wee [Reese]. Just the two of them. Nobody else there. I walked over and didn’t say a word—just sat down in a chair and it was silent. “And then Pee Wee said, ‘You know, Jack, the one thing I just don’t understand?’ And Jackie said, ‘What, Pee Wee?’ He said, ‘Why this game hasn’t driven me crazy.’”

---