BILL NUMBER: ACR 181 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto
MAY 5, 2016
Relative to the Vin Scully Highway.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
ACR 181, as introduced, Gatto. Vin Scully Highway
This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 5
in the County of Los Angeles as the Vin Scully Highway. The measure
would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the
cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon
receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost, to erect
those signs.
Fiscal committee: yes.
WHEREAS, Vincent Edward "Vin" Scully, born in the Bronx on
November 29, 1927, served in the United States Navy and attended
Fordham University where he began his career as a student broadcaster
and journalist. While at Fordham, Vin was assistant sports editor
for The Fordham Ram, played center field for the Fordham Rams
baseball team, called radio broadcasts for Rams baseball, football,
and basketball games, and even sang in a barbershop quartet. He also
helped found Fordham's FM radio station WFUV, which now presents a
Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award each year; and
WHEREAS, Vin began his broadcasting career with the Brooklyn
Dodgers in 1950, moving to Los Angeles with the club in 1958, and is
considered by many to be the greatest broadcaster in history with a
smooth voice baseball fans everywhere recognize instantly; and
WHEREAS, For many years, Vin was heard nationally calling the
Major League Baseball All-Star Game and World Series games for CBS
Radio and NBC television, National Football League games on CBS
television, and also some tennis and golf; and
WHEREAS, Vin is one of the only sports broadcasters to work
without a partner. He says that broadcasting solo allows him to have
a conversation with the listener rather than a broadcasting partner,
allowing a rapport with the listener, that could not otherwise occur.
When asked about why Vin goes solo, fellow broadcaster Charley
Steiner once said "Poets don't need straight men."; and
WHEREAS, Vin holds the record for most World Series as a
broadcaster with 28 series and the longest tenure with one club, now
in his 67th season. He has been behind the microphone for 20
no-hitters and three perfect games. The honors bestowed upon Vin by
the Dodgers include having him throw out the ceremonial first pitch
and making a bobblehead doll in his likeness; and
WHEREAS, Vin has been named California Sportscaster of the Year 31
times, won the Ford Frick Award in 1982, was awarded an Emmy for
Lifetime Achievement in 1995, was named Broadcaster of the Century in
2000 by The American Sportscasters Association, was named the
greatest broadcaster of all time in historian Curt Smith's 2005 book
Voices of Summer, was the Grand Marshal of the 2014 Tournament of
Roses Parade in Pasadena, and was the recipient of the Commissioner's
Historic Achievement Award, the second nonplayer to receive the
prestigious distinction after Jackie Robinson's widow, Rachel. In
2016, in honor of his final season behind the microphone, the Los
Angeles city council renamed Elysian Park Avenue, the street on which
Dodger Stadium is located, "Vin Scully Avenue," making the ballpark'
s address 100 Vin Scully Avenue; and
WHEREAS, Vin joined Hall of Fame announcer Red Barber and Connie
Desmond as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers' broadcast team in 1950, just
one year after graduating from Fordham University. And in 1982, 32
years after he called his first Dodgers game, he was inducted into
the Broadcaster's wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and
WHEREAS, Vin, whose vivid yet simple descriptions of baseball
games have thrilled fans since 1950, has been behind the mic not just
calling the play-by-play, but painting verbal pictures, making each
game truly captivating regardless of the score or the standings of
the teams. He has shared with us his profound gifts that have put him
at the top of his profession: an unforgettable and beautiful voice,
a rich imagination giving him the perfect description to every moment
of a broadcast, a contagious enthusiasm for the game of baseball
regardless of which teams are playing, and an ability to talk with
listeners, wherever they may be, as if he is an old friend; now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
portion of Interstate 5 between State Route 134 and State Route 110
in the County of Los Angeles as the Vin Scully Highway; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author
for appropriate distribution.