Vin Scully and "his inimitable voice went out in style" last night with his final broadcast from Dodger Stadium, a 4-3 10-inning win over the Rockies to clinch the NL West (USA TODAY, 9/26). The game ended with a walk-off home run from SS Charlie Culberson, allowing Scully to coat the win in his "unmistakable gloss" with the call: "Would you believe a home run?" (L.A. TIMES, 9/26). After Dodgers SS Corey Seager's ninth-inning home run had extended the game, Scully said, "And wouldn't you know we'd go extra innings." It was a "storybook moment in a storybook career." After the game, Scully was given a standing ovation from the crowd and players, who "took off their championship hats and waved them at a smiling Scully up in the broadcast booth" (ESPN.com, 9/25).
It was "arguably the most perfect moment at Chavez Ravine since Kirk Gibson's 1988 home run." As the postgame festivities continued, the players and more than 50,000 fans on hand "stopped celebrating to listen to Scully's recording of 'The Wind Beneath My Wings.'" Entire rows "locked arms," and players "stood frozen on the infield" (L.A. TIMES, 9/26). As the song played, Scully's wife, Sandi, emerged, and the two "stood together as it played." When it ended, security staff "escorted the Scullys out of the press box" (L.A. TIMES, 9/26).
The SportsNet LA telecast was "carried locally on over-the-air broadcast" by KTLA-CW and "nationally by the MLB Network" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 9/26).
