The Obligatory Vin Scully Column

Shank's in Los Angeles for the weekend, so it makes perfect sense, right?

LOS ANGELES — It is more than three hours before the first pitch of the Red Sox-Dodgers game in Chavez Ravine on Friday and Baseball’s Voice of God is already at work in the booth, meticulously penning the lineups into his scorebook.

Vin Scully is lefthanded.

No detail is insignificant when we speak of Baseball’s Voice of God.

The numbers are staggering. Scully is 88 years old. He has broadcast approximately 9,000 Dodger games, which is almost half of the games ever played by a franchise that joined the National League in 1890. In 1950, Scully worked a spring training game that was managed by Connie Mack, who was born during the Civil War. Scully has called 20 no-hitters, 12 All-Star Games, and three perfect games. He called Don Larsen’s perfect game, Hank Aaron’s 715th homer, Kirk Gibson’s iconic walkoff vs. Dennis Eckersley, and Mookie Wilson’s little dribble that went through Bill Buckner’s wickets (”Behind the bag . . . and the Mets win it!’’).

Shank sure loves bringing that one up, doesn't he?

Vin Scully

Since the Red Sox are playing the L.A. Dodgers this weekend, it makes sense to have a column on Vin Scully.

Ted Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Russell, Leonardo Da Vinci, Jim Brown, Winston Churchill, Bobby Orr, Yo-Yo Ma, Muhammad Ali . . .

And Vin Scully.

The best who ever lived.

On Friday, the Dodgers announced that Scully will be back as team broadcaster for his 65th year in 2014. A humbled Scully, now 85, gracefully participated in a press conference, telling the assembled media that he wished the Dodgers had simply released the news with a single line in the evening’s game notes.

In all of sports, there is nothing like the Scully-Dodgers relationship. Ernie Harwell was the sweet honey voice of the Tigers for a million years and Marv Albert has been the signature caller of the Knicks forever. We came to associate Keith Jackson with college football and Al Michaels with believing in miracles. Boston has been graced with the iconic Curt Gowdy, the mellow Ned Martin, Drano-gargling Johnny Most, steady Gil Santos, puckish Fred Cusick, and pom-pom Joe Castiglione, who moved thousands of “can you believe it?” bottle openers after the Red Sox finally won in 2004.

And now have pom-pom Dan Shaughnessy, who moved thousands of books after the Red Sox finally won in 2004.