LA to Name Street After Dodgers Broadcast Legend Vin Scully

A proposal to name a street near Dodger Stadium in honor of beloved broadcast legend Vin Scully passed a vote Friday by the Los Angeles City Council.

The proposal changes Elysian Park Avenue, an east-west street that connects Stadium Way with Sunset Boulevard, to Vin Scully Avenue. The council voted 12-0 to begin the process of renaming, expected to happen in time for the 2016 season.

The Dodger team tweeted a statement from Scully, who said he was  "overwhelmed" by the decision to rename a street after him.

"I was raised on the streets of New York and to have a street named  after me in Los Angeles is almost too much to comprehend," he said. "A path to Dodger Stadium is a pathway to my heart. For 55 years, it  has been an honor to walk that road to one of the greatest entertainment  centers in the world, a place that has brought so much joy to all of us. I thank God for this great honor."

"I was raised in the streets of New York and to have a street named after me in Los Angeles is almost too much to comprehend."

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 29, 2016

Dodger manager Dave Roberts told the council that "on behalf of the  players, the organization, we're deeply honored, as Vin has called many great  monumental moments" in Dodger history. Former Dodger stars Orel Hershiser, Maury Wills and others were on hand  for the vote, as were several active players.

"There's no better way to recognize such an iconic Dodger as Hall of Famer Vin Scully than naming a street after him," Dodgers President Stan Kasten said. "We appreciate Gil Cedillo and city officials bringing this to the forefront and we look forward to the day when everyone can drive on Vin Scully Avenue when they enter Dodger Stadium."

The visit by the Dodger contingent to City Hall is part of their week of service tour in the Los Angeles area, dubbed by the team as the "Dodgers Love L.A. Tour."

The 88-year-old Bronx-born Scully has announced Dodger games since 1950, when the team played in Brooklyn. He said in August that the 2016 season likely will be his last.

Scully has been an announcer longer than anyone else in sports history. A ranking system devised by author Curt Smith for his 2005 book "Voices of the Game" determined that Scully was baseball's greatest announcer, giving him a perfect score of 100, based on such factors as longevity, language, popularity and persona.

When Mayor Eric Garcetti made a similar street-naming proposal in 2013 in response to a viewer question on a public affairs television program, Scully said he would prefer for a street near Dodger Stadium to be renamed after Walter O'Malley, who brought the team to Los Angeles from Brooklyn, or his son Peter, instead of himself.

Peter O'Malley succeeded his father as the team's chairman of the board upon the elder O'Malley's death in 1979. The O'Malley family continued to own the Dodgers until their sale to the Fox Group in 1997.