Second Thoughts

Realist Scully says this year will be his last

Vin Scully, who turns 88 today and has considered retiring as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ chief broadcaster, appears to finally be ready to step down after next season. “Sooner or later,” he said, “you have to be realistic.”
Vin Scully, who turns 88 today and has considered retiring as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ chief broadcaster, appears to finally be ready to step down after next season. “Sooner or later,” he said, “you have to be realistic.”

It is not what anyone in the Los Angeles area wants to believe. When Vin Scully first said in August that next season would realistically be his last broadcasting the Dodgers, willful thinking became rampart.

"Probably" and "likely" were comfortable buffers that offered hope. He could change his mind. But the more Scully has thought and talked about retiring, the more definitive his decision has become.

"Each year, I knew I was getting closer and closer," Scully said. "Finally, this past fall and winter -- I think it's time. I don't want somebody else to tell me it's time. I would rather do it myself."

Scully celebrates his 88th birthday today and has reached the point where he cannot envision a scenario where he returns beyond the 2016 season.

"I really can't see that I would come back," Scully said. "Sooner or later, you have to be realistic. I've done it for a long, long time. I've done reasonably well at it. But I don't want to stay on any longer than I feel I should.

"Which makes it a very tough decision, but I really do feel it would be time for me to walk away rather than have somebody say, 'Gee, you know, you're not the same. You're not quite this, you're not quite that.' I don't want that. So I think if I can get through next year doing reasonably well, it would be time then to walk away."

A beer run

An Austin, Texas, couple tried to steal a ton of beer -- "more than 100 beers" -- at a tailgate party, before the Texas Tech-Texas game. According to the Austin Statesman, Jose and Sandra Hernandez tried to pull off their beer heist by parking their pickup next to a tent and loading the alcohol while the party was going. The party host saw them and wasn't going to have any of it.

Sandra Hernandez backed the pickup to the tent while Jose Hernandez hopped out and began loading what he could into the truck's bed, the affidavit said. They then drove off, picking up an unwanted rider right away as the tailgate party host jumped into the back of the moving truck and started fighting Jose Hernandez.

As the fight went on, Sandra Hernandez drove around the block and returned to the party while her husband and the host continued fighting in the truck. According to the Statesman, the stolen items, valued at $400, the couple was trying to steal:

• 104 assorted beers in a plastic tub filled with ice

• Three small Corona ice chests

• Four 1-gallon juice jugs, assorted flavors

• One bottle of wine

• One Tito's Vodka rubber mat

• An unknown number of beers found scattered in the truck's bed

Those fans were close to losing the one thing that could have helped them drown in their sorrows after the Longhorns lost to the Red Raiders.

Sports quiz

Vin Scully missed the Los Angeles Dodgers' home opener in 1977 because he was covering what event?

Sports answer

Scully was covering the Masters Tournament for CBS.

Sports on 11/29/2015

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