Monday, April 18, 2011

Vin Scully, Outside the Lines

Mel Ott and Leo Durocher in 1942.

Vin Scully, from last Wednesday's game, at AT&T Park:

One of the differences, as I was looking down at the field, are the coaches' boxes. Up here they're not completely defined. The length of the coaching box is normal, but then the inside and outside line is very short.

One of the things that Leo Durocher always did when he coached at third, he would scratch out the lines of the box. No matter where he was, he'd scratch it out.

Here's the pitch to Casey Blake, that's a strike.

So what the Dodgers did, just to torment Leo, when he was managing the Giants, they had wooden coaches' boxes. In other words, they put wood down into the ground, painted it white, and no matter what he did, he couldn't scrape it out.

Oh and one the count. A little gamesmanship even back then.

Strike one pitch to Casey Blake, swung on and missed, oh and two. On deck, Andre Ethier.

'Course Mel Ott, the great Giant outfielder, hit over five hundred home runs, managed the New York Giants. Ottie, when he played right field, constantly pawed at the ground. You knew where he played most of the hitters, because the grass didn't grow there.

Oh and two the count to Blake, fastball high.

And then would you believe it, Mel Ott became the manager of the New York Giants, and twice a year, they had to replace the floor in the Giant dugout. He'd paw the wood out.

So, fun and games between the Giants and the Dodgers.

Two on, one out....

photo: Sporting News

3 comments:

Robert Timm said...

Pure poetry.

karina said...

Thanks Orel! this transcript just made my day

Steve Sax said...

Orel, thanks for transcribing this. I recall hearing it in the car on the way home the other night...