California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 182

Introduced by Assembly Member Gomez

May 9, 2016

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 182—Relative to the Vin Scully Highway.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 182, as introduced, Gomez. Vin Scully Highway.

This measure would designate a specified portion of State Route 110 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 on November
29, 1927, is an American sportscaster, best known as the
play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League
baseball team; and

WHEREAS, He has been with the team since its days in
Brooklyn, New York. His 66 seasons with the Dodgers, 1950 to
present, are the longest time any broadcaster has been with a single
team in professional sports history, and he is second by one year
to only Tommy Lasorda in terms of number of years with the
Dodgers organization in any capacity; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Scully calls most Dodgers home games and
select road games. He is known for his dulcet voice, lyrically
descriptive style, and signature introduction to Dodgers games:
“It’s time for Dodgers baseball! Hi everybody, and a very pleasant
good (day/evening) to you, wherever you may be;” and

WHEREAS, Mr. Scully’s remarkable ability to create such
vividly accurate and colorful descriptions to the play of the game
has become legendary. Others have likened his broadcast skills as
being able to see it on the radio; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Scully accompanied the Dodgers from
Brooklyn to their new location in Los Angeles beginning with the
1958 baseball season, and quickly became popular in southern
California. During the Dodgers’ first four seasons in Los Angeles,
the fans had difficulty following the action in the very large Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and it soon became common for
them to bring transistor radios to the games to hear Mr. Scully and
partner Jerry Doggett describe the action. This practice continued
even after the team moved to the much smaller Dodger Stadium
for the 1962 baseball season. Radio and television engineers often
had difficulty compensating for the sound of Mr. Scully’s
play-by-play reverberating through the stands at Dodgers home
games; and

WHEREAS, In 1964, the New York Yankees offered Mr. Scully
the opportunity to succeed Mel Allen as their lead play-by-play
announcer. Mr. Scully chose to remain with the Dodgers, and his
popularity in Los Angeles had become such that in 1976 Dodgers
fans voted him the “most memorable personality” in the history
of the franchise; and

WHEREAS, The Dodgers announced on August 28, 2015, that
Mr. Scully would be back for the 2016 baseball season, his 67th
with the Dodgers. At the press conference on August 29th, Scully
said 2016 would probably be his final year; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Scully has established a bond with his listeners
that is deep, with a strong sense of community, so that when he
says on air to his listeners that “We’ve been friends long enough
... ” it is truly an accurate and heartfelt statement; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Scully is and will continue to be long known
as being legendary for his abilities to bring to Californians the
history, color, and passion for baseball and for his caring for others.
It is altogether fitting to officially name State Route 110 adjacent
to Dodger Stadium as the Vin Scully Highway; now, therefore, be
it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That, in light of Vin Scully’s remarkable and
unprecedented career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League
Baseball, and hundreds of thousands of fans of baseball, the
Legislature hereby designates the portion of State Route 110,
located between Interstate 5 and United States Highway 101 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.