The great Vin Scully has been a first-hand witness to many tragic and expected events in history during his lifetime. He’s been through the struggles of life during World War II, through labor stoppages, the attacks of 9/11 that shocked the nation, and now the current pandemic at hand. With all the distress that these events have caused, baseball has been there to get us through.
During World War II President Roosevelt pushed for baseball to continue to shift the attention of the American people from the horror of the war, while baseball stopped for six days following the 9/11 attacks it came back to unify the nation.
Vin Scully, 92, has been at home recuperating from a fall last month. With yet another shutdown of baseball being caused by the Coronavirus, Vin wants to see the restorative powers that baseball has be put to use.
During a call with Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci Scully had this to say:
“I just feel very sad. I’m not angry. I know people are trying to solve this issue. I think of baseball right now as a national thermometer. People are hoping for baseball because if baseball comes back it’s the first true sign that we are on the comeback trail. It’s our national thermometer.”
The man has a way with words. What he says rings true in a sense. While baseball starting won’t mean we are in the clear from the virus its return would be a great sign that the country is trending in the right direction after months of quarantine.
As Vin is at home recovering from his injuries, so to will baseball try to recover and salvage what is left with a proposal of an 82-game season. Vin is hoping and praying that the game can return to play a part in the nation’s recovery from this pandemic by uniting and healing a broken nation.
In an address that he gave fans before its first game back after the 9/11 attacks he said:
“baseball gets up out of the dirt, bushes itself off …. hoping in some small way to inspire the nation to do the same.”
The Hall of Fame broadcaster’s words still ring true today, baseball will rise up and brush itself off, America will rise up and brush itself off, and…
WE WILL PERSEVERE.
