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After 67 Seasons, Vin Scully, Voice Of The Dodgers, Retires At 88

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Now let's say goodbye to a familiar voice. Maybe just saying goodbye is not the way if you're seeing off the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, maybe you should say this...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VIN SCULLY: High fly ball in the right field. She is gone.

MONTAGNE: Vin Scully called a game winning homerun in the 1988 World Series.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It was a moment in one of his 67 seasons stretching back to 1950.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCULLY: I have said enough for a lifetime. And for the last time, I wish you all a very pleasant good afternoon.

MONTAGNE: Scully called the final game as the Dodgers played the San Francisco Giants. Both teams relocated from New York City to California in 1958. And this is an incredible fact - Vin Scully was calling Dodgers games even before they moved.

INSKEEP: The whole world changed around his broadcast booth, but Vin Scully remained. Along the way, he called the first perfect game pitched in a World Series in 1956. He also called Hank Aaron's historic 714 home run as he was beating Babe Ruth's record in 1974.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCULLY: I'm deadly serious when I say this. What I sense is I've been there watching men accomplish, watching no-hitters, watching perfect games, et cetera, et cetera. And all I did was be blessed to have the opportunity to broadcast it. So my last day will not be a sad day - not for me at all. It will be a Thanksgiving Day because I owe the Lord a great deal.

MONTAGNE: And baseball fans say thank you to Vin Scully.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "D-O-D-G-E-R-S SONG")

DANNY KAYE: (Singing) So I say D. I say D-O, D-O-D, D-O-D-G, D-O-D-G-E-R-S, team, team. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.