Frattare, Von Benko reminisce about Vin Scully
Reaction came from around the baseball world, and the entire sporting world for that matter, when iconic broadcaster Vin Scully died Tuesday at the age of 94.
Two well known sports announcers in the area recalled their interactions with Scully and expressed their feelings and opinions about the Hall of Famer.
Former Pirates broadcaster Lanny Frattare, now the Special Assistant to University Relations and Assistant Professor of Communication at Waynesburg University, was straightforward with his assessment of Scully.
无毛视频淚 think he was the greatest baseball announcer ever,无毛视频� said Frattare, whose 33 years behind the mic for the Pirates is the longest tenure in team history. 无毛视频淎nd that无毛视频檚 no insult to Bob Prince or Jack Buck, Harry Kalas, Mel Allen or any of those guys. Vin Scully was the best.无毛视频�
Frattare, who endeared himself to Pirates fans with his signature phrase, 无毛视频楾here was nooooo doubt about it,无毛视频� after each Pittsburgh victory, was a great admirer of Scully无毛视频檚 style and work ethic.
无毛视频淪cully was always well prepared,无毛视频� Frattare said. 无毛视频淗e knew the right word or the right phrase for every moment.
无毛视频淭he challenge of being on the air three hours a night for 162 games is to create a freshness, and with Scully nothing was ever stale. There were no clich茅s. It was always well described action. He knew when to shut up.
无毛视频淭here无毛视频檚 a story about Vin Scully when he called the Hank Aaron home run that broke Babe Ruth无毛视频檚 record. Scully called the home run, described what happened and then took his headset off, got out of his chair and walked to the back of the press box. Because he believed the moment needed to breathe, the moment needed to have its own life. He did not bombard his audience with inane comments. That无毛视频檚 part of the legacy being left by Vin Scully.无毛视频�
George Von Benko, who hosts the sports talk show 无毛视频溛廾悠祃ine无毛视频� on WMBS-AM (590) Saturday mornings and writes the weekly feature 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� for the 无毛视频-Standard, agreed with Frattare.
无毛视频淚 thought Scully was the gold standard if you were an announcer,无毛视频� Von Benko said. 无毛视频淗e didn无毛视频檛 shout. He had a great tone to his voice. His description 无毛视频� I remember when Sandy Koufax threw his last no-hitter and how Scully handled that so well and talking about the time on the scoreboard in the City of Angels.无毛视频�
When Koufax struck out the final batter to complete what was a perfect game on Sept. 9, 1965, Scully took a long pause to allow listeners to soak in the moment, then said, 无毛视频淥n the scoreboard in right field it is 9:46 p.m. in the City of Angels, Los Angeles, California, and a crowd of 29,139 just sitting in to see the only pitcher in baseball history to hurl four no-hit, no-run games.无毛视频�
Frattare hopes future broadcasters take note of Scully无毛视频檚 legacy.
无毛视频淲henever we pay tribute to someone like Scully 无毛视频� to me legacy means an individual who has left for future generations a mantra,无毛视频� Frattare said. 无毛视频淭here are important lessons to be learned from the way Vin Scully did baseball. I无毛视频檓 hoping that we just don无毛视频檛 have this day of celebrating Vin无毛视频檚 life and then forget about what he meant to the game of baseball and broadcasting from the standpoint of what he embraced as the important principles of being an effective broadcaster.无毛视频�
Scully was known as one of the nicest, friendliest people in sports and Von Benko verified that.
无毛视频淚 met him several times and I once interviewed him when I did a piece about the great Bob Prince,无毛视频� Von Benko said.
无毛视频淗e was tremendous. He was so unassuming, he treated everybody as if they were the most important person in the world. He was not struck by his fame or his fortune, he was just a down-to-earth person who believed in treating people very well.
无毛视频淚 remember one time the Dodgers were in town and Tommy Lasorda came in and sat down with me and Chuck Tanner, who I was really good friends with, they were both scouting at the time. And Vin Scully walks into the room and asks, 无毛视频楥an I join you?无毛视频� And we all sat down and had dinner together. I无毛视频檒l never forget that, me, Chuck, Tommy and Vin Scully. He was so extremely nice and treated me very well.无毛视频�
Frattare concurred.
无毛视频淕reat guy. We would always have conversations whenever he was in Pittsburgh or I was in Los Angeles,无毛视频� Frattare said.
无毛视频淚 asked him once if he would speak to my Pittsburgh Rotary Club, which met at the William Penn Hotel, and he was kind enough to say yes. It was a noon meeting and he came and gave a tremendous speech, great stories. What an honor for me to be standing up there in front of 100 people in a Rotary Club and introducing the great Vin Scully to them. He did a remarkable job of entertaining my fellow Rotarians.无毛视频�
Von Benko, who was a broadcaster for Duquesne men无毛视频檚 basketball and Pitt women无毛视频檚 basketball, summed up Scully through something he heard from Prince.
无毛视频淏ob Prince used to tell me, and he was of the same mold, if you无毛视频檙e broadcasting on radio, you无毛视频檙e painting a picture for the listener,无毛视频� Von Benko said, 无毛视频渁nd Vin Scully did that better than anyone.无毛视频�