By now, we all know that Vin Scully, the greatest baseball broadcaster of all-time, experienced the loss of his wife, Sandi. The photo of the couple below was taken a couple of years ago:
Sandra Hunt was married to Vin Scully for 48 years and at the age of 76, she was a beautiful, elegant woman, even as ALS ravaged her body. This is according to TMZ:
Vin and Sandi met in 1973 while she was working as an executive assistant for the owner of the L.A. Rams football team. Sandi has credited the team’s general counsel, Ed Hookstratten, for hooking them up.
“Unbeknownst to me, he told Vin about this young blonde he ought to check out,” Sandi told The NY Times … “And Vin told him, ‘I’m not in the business of checking out young blondes.'”
But, one thing led to another and they began dating soon after.
Sandra Scully died Sunday night at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. She had been fighting ALS, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, for the last several years. The progressive nervous system disease affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.
“She is really inspirational,” Vin Scully told The Associated Press last August. “Her faith is extremely important and I think that’s a major reason she’s held up.”
In September of last year, Scully auctioned off years of his personal memorabilia, which raised over $2 million. He and his wife of 47 years donated a portion of the money to UCLA for ALS research.
Born Sandra Hunt on Dec. 27, 1944, in Cascade, Virginia, she married Vin Scully in November 1973. The couple had one daughter, Catherine, together. She had two children of her own from a previous marriage.
Not everyone knows what it feels like to have a wife die, but I do! I am happily re-married and life goes on. It happened 25 years ago when my oldest son was nine and he has never gotten over it (I have tried to “fix it” but I just can’t – only he can). I know what it is like to lose a wife… but not a mother.
Well, I guess I do know what it is like to lose a mother, but I was an adult in my 50’s, so there is that. My wife’s parents and my parents are all gone and my youngest son has never experienced having grandparents. Maybe that is why I cherish my six granddaughters so much.
The above photo is (from L to R), my oldest son, who was 1 then and is now 34; his deceased mother; and my 87-year-old ex-mother-in-law, who is still part of our life. I talk to her every week and she came to my wife’s and my wedding.
Life goes on. Yes, it does. Unless we get stuck in the past! But, sometimes we have to consider the past – we just don’t get stuck in it!
Vin Scully has experienced the deaths of two wives. In 1972, Vin Scully’s 35-year-old wife, Joan Crawford, died of an accidental medical overdose. They had been married for 15 years. Below is a photo of Joan and Vin in 1970:
As mentioned earlier, in 1973, he married Sandra Hunt, who had two children of her own, and they soon had another child together.
Scully’s eldest son, Michael, died in a helicopter crash at the age of 33 while working for the ARCO Transportation Company. He was inspecting oil pipelines for leaks near Fort Tejon, California in the immediate aftermath of the Northridge earthquake in January 1994.
Although Michael’s death still haunts him, Scully, a devout Roman Catholic, has said in numerous interviews that he credits his religious faith and being able to dive back into his work with helping him ease the burden and grief from losing his wife and son. He has encouraged devotion to the Virgin Mary, saying, “Her prayers are more powerful than those of the rest of heaven combined. No one was closer or more devoted to Christ on earth, so it only makes sense to see the same thing in heaven. Now, the Blessed Virgin seeks to help her spiritual children get home to spend eternity with her Son.”
One of Walter O’Malley’s favorite times of the year was the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day at Dodgertown. The March 17 parties that he and his wife Kay hosted were legendary and are a piece of Dodger history. The holiday magically transformed Dodger Blue into Luck of the Irish green for a glorious day. Many dignitaries and other famous people were invited to the event, and of course, Vin and Sandy were there. This is a photo from the early 1980’s of Vin and Sandi Scully:
In 2016, Scully narrated an audio recording of the Rosary for Catholic Athletes for Christ in which he recites the Rosary mysteries and leads a group of responders.
In November 2017, Scully stated that he would “never watch another NFL game again” due to some of the league’s players kneeling during the playing of the national anthem prior to games.
Scully has four children, two stepchildren, sixteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Vin and his second wife Sandra were married for 48 years until Sandra’s death from ALS on January 4, 2021. ALS is a horrible disease. Interestingly, the new mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine platform offers a lot of hope in curing this disease.
GOD BLESS YOU, VIN! Our Prayers are with you.
I listened to you… when I could, but growing up in Ohio, I could not always get you. But as I entered adulthood I was able to listen to you much more, and I cherish those memories.
Cover Photo Credit: Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers
My deepest felt condolences to Vin and his family.
I hope he gets threw this hard time for him, I can only imagine how tough it must be for him.
I had the privilege to meet him just before a training camp game in Vero Beach many years ago as he was on his way to the booth .
I asked him to sign a baseball for us and he took not only time to do it but talk to us for a couple minutes.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My Dad died of ALS in 2016 at the age of 83. He suffered with the disease for 15 years. He was like Mrs. Scully in that ALS usually kills the sufferer in less than 5 years and it’s mostly a disease of the young adult.
ALS ravages you – it’s a horrible thing and I was glad to have the extra years with my Dad but it was horrible to watch ALS slowly tear him down.
God bless Vin and his family.
One of life’s toughest moments is to lose those whom you love. May God’s peace and comfort support you Vin during these difficult times
That is a wonderful tribute Mark. Thank you for that.
I can only imagine his sense of loss since I have not experienced one like it .Those of us that have listened to Vin for so many years can feel his loss as we would for a friend who has suffered such a loss.
May his faith and his family provide him with the comfort he needs at such a difficult time in his life.
My sympathies to you and your family Vin. May God be with you all in this time of sadness.
Prayers for you and your family, Vince. Hope you can find some strength, comfort and peace in the hard days ahead. RIP, Sandy.
Great beautiful pictures as usual, Mark. Thank you for your posting.
I was 11 when I first started listening to Vin and Jerry. Summer of ‘59. My mom bought me a turquoise Admiral radio, I think the station was KFI. 640 I believe. I remember falling asleep to Vinnie’s voice with crickets outside my open window on warm summer nights in Canoga Park. Vin is 93. I wonder what he has left to do?
As I approach 70 some of my fondest memories of baseball come flooding back when I see Vin’s name in print.I had a small transistor radio that I kept under my pillow so I could listen to the Dodgers as I fell asleep to Vin’s voice.My heart goes out to Mr.Scully and I hope his family is helping him through these hard times.
Great Post Mark. This is a reminder that if we out live Vin we are going to be wrecks when we learn of his passing. He has been blessed to have two loves and a large family to surround him with but even the great ones experience the loss of a piece of themselves as we work our way through our lives.
Prayers,love for the Scully family . Behind every great man is a GREAT woman, Vinny was blessed to have two.
Great post Mark. Those of us who lived in LA during those years were blessed to hear the best their ever was. I cannot even come close to knowing how he must be feeling at this point. But it seems to me that here is a man of faith. One who’s faith is strong enough to get him through anything. Some one asked what do they think Vin will be doing now. Well, it also seems to me that this is the ultimate family man. And Vin has a lot of family to lean on. Of course with him being the leader of the clan so to speak, they will look to him for strength. A lot of you may dis Twitter and there are some nuts on there, but last year Vin became a Twitter user. Some of the stuff he has posted on there has brought back some great memories. And little snippets where he tells stories while broadcasting games are priceless, and a lot of fun to listen to. My heartfelt condolences go out to Vin and his family.
My condolence to the great Vin Scully and his family. His faith and family will certainly help him deal with the loss of Sandi. It’s hard to say but there has to be some sense of relief in the fact her pain and suffering has finally ended. Her loving memory will live on.
I will say that Vinny had a knack for marring beautiful women.
He has that kind of personality that attracts people. Beautiful women included.
So did Mark.
This is a very moving tribute, Mark. And thanks for sharing your own story.
Gil Hodges will get another shot at the Hall in December of 2021. If there is any justice, he will get in this time.
He’s back
(Blake Treinen – 2 yr deal with club option 2023)
I think that tells us a couple of things:
1) Both parties were comfortable with each other
2) Hendriks is going to get more years and a substantially higher AAV and AF isn’t going to go there
I’m guessing this takes us out of the Hand/Colome/Rosenthal stakes as well but I wouldn’t mind getting one of those guys also.
Roster is full at 40 right now. They can’t sign anyone without opening a roster spot.
So who gets booted from the 40 when we resign JT?
At some point both Fergie and Kahnle will be put on the 60 day IL which will create two more spots, although I don’t know when that is (possibly beginning of ST).
Other easy eliminations would be Sborz, Raley and probably Santana, any of whom could easily be shipped off to another team for a low level, low ceiling prospect.
That assumes AF won’t make a trade where he gives up more than he gets, which would also create extra space.
In other words, this is not a problem.
I was just going to say “somebody we don’t need”, but you covered it STB.
Has anyone heard that the Dodgers were talking with Treinen?
Of course not!
You don’t hear about most of AF’s signings in advance.
The ones you do hear about are misdirection (aka/Fake News).
I think he has some other things up his sleeve.
What’s your guess Mark? Any more bullpen pieces or are we finished with that and just concentrating on a right handed bat and maybe a starter?
Hendrik is always possible, but I think he will want too much for too long. .
I can see another Dollar General Bullpen Piece…Maybe Alex Wood.
I am certain AF is working on the RH bat, but I am playing checkers… he is playing chess.
If I understand correctly the first report was a LA Dodger tweet (followed closely by nightingale et al with details). Don’t remember hearing of a significant signing in many years that the first report is the team announcement. Talk about playing it close to the vest.
So…. “I think he has some other things up his sleeve” could be fake news?
I can contribute to that. I have it on questionable authority that AF wants to build a Super Pen, re-sign Turner, and cruise to the trade deadline.
I had read Treinen was a fallback. I don’t know if this takes them out of Hendricks or not but it assures that they won’t get caught empty handed. I don’t see Sborz as anything more than a AAAA guy for this team. His fastball is too flat. Good piece on CT3 yesterday. Let us not forget the play Taylor made in LF against Milwaukee a few years ago to save that series. His defense is just fine.
Dodgers “in on” Hand and Hendricks.
Now, who knows what “in on” means….
I would not mind a Hand… at the right price. Neither would AF.
“In on” means we would have signed them if they would have settled for a lot less than they’re going to wind up getting.
Kasten stated today that they did not trade for Betts until February last season. He also said that a big move could be made at anytime. Same old double talk. I like everyone else taken by surprise with the Treinen move, so maybe AF does have something big in the works, and I do not consider JT big.
JT could overplay his hand and end up not being a Dodger. Chris Bryant will not cost that much.
I hear Cory is moving to third base whatever that means.
Then means than and than means then…..Thinking of MJ and that rotten hand she got dealt. It was really good having to had met her here @LADodgertalk. May it outlive me!
Blake coming back probably means Pedro is not. Not that I am crying over that prospect. If they do not sign JT by the end of the month, I do not think he is coming back.