{"id":18565,"date":"2022-08-04T09:03:58","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T14:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/satodayscatholic.org\/?p=18565"},"modified":"2022-08-04T09:03:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T14:03:59","slug":"vin-scully-legendary-baseball-announcer-and-committed-catholic-dies-at-94","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/satodayscatholic.org\/vin-scully-legendary-baseball-announcer-and-committed-catholic-dies-at-94\/","title":{"rendered":"Vin Scully, legendary baseball announcer and committed Catholic, dies at 94"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
By Jonah McKeown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n St. Louis, Mo., Aug 3, 2022 \/ 14:38 pm<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vin Scully, who called Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games for more than two-thirds of a century, died Tuesday at his home at the age of 94. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A gifted orator and storyteller who was dubbed a \u201cpoet-philosopher of baseball,\u201d Scully deftly narrated numerous momentous events in baseball during his 67 seasons as a broadcaster. But more importantly \u2014 at least to him \u2014 Scully was a devout Catholic who found in his faith a source of joy and comfort and sought to share it with others through personal kindness and philanthropy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A longtime parishioner at St. Jude the Apostle Church in Westlake Village, California, Scully was instrumental, along with Catholic Athletes for Christ<\/a>, in arranging for Masses to be celebrated in the media interview room of Dodgers Stadium<\/a>. For at least one of his games, he placed a framed portrait of Pope Francis<\/a> in a chair next to him. Scully was famous for calling games alone \u2014 that is, without a color commentator \u2014 so the pictorial pope\u2019s silence was apt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scully was active in his parish and numerous philanthropic endeavors. Despite being a private person outside of the recording booth, preferring to spend time with his family, he often would allow charities to auction off the privilege of having lunch with him to raise money for good causes, such as supporting people with Down syndrome.<\/a> In 2020, he donated much of his collection of baseball memorabilia, collected over the decades, to raise money for charity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2016, Scully \u2014 a devotee of the Virgin Mary \u2014 created a two-CD audio recording of the rosary.<\/a> The sales benefitted the outreach organization Catholic Athletes for Christ, which ministers to high school students. Ray McKenna, Catholic Athletes for Christ\u2019s president and founder, mourned Scully in a statement<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs he did often with any charitable organization, Vin never said \u2018no.\u2019 His response was always, \u2018Whatever you need.\u2019 He supported our efforts to increase a Catholic presence in professional sports, including his willingness to record a Rosary CD in 2016 that has helped bring so many people to the Rosary and advance CAC\u2019s mission. We will miss him greatly and always treasure our friendship with him,\u201d McKenna said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n