It has been a slow news week for the Dodgers ever since they clinched the NL West on Thursday, but some good news came out on Monday concerning the broadcast schedule for the playoffs. Vin Scully will be calling six innings, the first-three and last-three, of every Dodger playoff game.
Scully will be limited to broadcasts on the radio due to TV contracts with TBS and Fox, so fans will have to tune in to the Dodgers Radio Network on AM 570 Fox Sports LA. I do not know about you, but this will not be the first time I have muted the television and played the radio in order to hear the "Voice of the Dodgers."
The three innings in between Scully's broadcast will be filled in by the Dodgers' regular radio team of Charlie Steiner and Rick Monday. It is not yet clear whether Scully or Steiner and Monday will call the games if any were to go into extra innings.
The announcement comes as a pleasant surprise because it breaks the Dodgers' usual broadcasting pattern. Scullly usually simulcasts the first three innings of a game on the radio before Steiner and Monday come on, but having him return for the seventh through ninth innings is more than welcome.
Also, Scully will be calling the games on the road, so he will potentially be traveling as far as Boston. He usually does not travel past Arizona during the regular season. Even when the Dodgers traveled to Yankee Stadium, Scully declined the trip.
The Dodgers announced Scully's return to the booth for the 2014 season back in August, and put the legendary announcer in the spotlight with his very own press conference. During the interview he credited the team's success this season for his return, and said it has been thrilling, "coming to the ballpark and watching them pull out some miraculous victories."
This announcement will not affect the team on the field, but as Dodger news has slowed a bit, it is sure to bring a smile to the faces of Dodger fans.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
In other postseason news, the five playoff teams out of the NL are official now. Atlanta, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati all clinched postseason berths. The fight for seeding still remains, but with just six games left it is looking like the Dodgers will finish as the three seed and will face the loser of the showdown atop the NL between the Braves and Cardinals.
