Vin's Voice

 
World Series game one
A’s 4, Dodgers 3
Bottom of the 9th
A man on base
Kirk Gibson at bat
Count is 3 and 2
And Gibson has no wheels
 
“High fly ball into right field she is…gone!”
 
I’ll never forget those words back in ‘88
The images
Fourteen-year-old me was ecstatic
Fifty-six thousand were going wild in the stands
And millions more were celebrating all over the city…
 
Vin always had a way with calling each game
We always tuned in to listen on the radio
To watch on television
He was the voice for the Dodgers  
For L.A.
 
67 years in broadcasting
What a career
Game after game
Season after season
Year after year
 
And in between plays  
He could tell the most interesting stories  
Weaving them  
Making connections
You can say it was almost poetic
 
He lived to be 94
A life well lead
Respected and admired by his peers
I can still hear Vin’s voice in my head
 “It’s time for Dodger baseball…”
And we would all bleed blue
 
…It was only after Gibson struggled to jog around the bases
As the crowd screamed and celebrated
Vin stayed quiet for a minute
Letting us relish in the moment
Until he broke his silence
“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened”
 
Thank you, dear Vin,
Rest in Peace