BILL NUMBER: ACR 181INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Gatto MAY 5, 2016 Relative to the Vin Scully Highway. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 181, as introduced, Gatto. Vin Scully Highway This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 5 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 in the Bronx on November 29, 1927, served in the United States Navy and attended Fordham University where he began his career as a student broadcaster and journalist. While at Fordham, Vin was assistant sports editor for The Fordham Ram, played center field for the Fordham Rams baseball team, called radio broadcasts for Rams baseball, football, and basketball games, and even sang in a barbershop quartet. He also helped found Fordham's FM radio station WFUV, which now presents a Vin Scully Lifetime Achievement Award each year; and WHEREAS, Vin began his broadcasting career with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950, moving to Los Angeles with the club in 1958, and is considered by many to be the greatest broadcaster in history with a smooth voice baseball fans everywhere recognize instantly; and WHEREAS, For many years, Vin was heard nationally calling the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and World Series games for CBS Radio and NBC television, National Football League games on CBS television, and also some tennis and golf; and WHEREAS, Vin is one of the only sports broadcasters to work without a partner. He says that broadcasting solo allows him to have a conversation with the listener rather than a broadcasting partner, allowing a rapport with the listener, that could not otherwise occur. When asked about why Vin goes solo, fellow broadcaster Charley Steiner once said "Poets don't need straight men."; and WHEREAS, Vin holds the record for most World Series as a broadcaster with 28 series and the longest tenure with one club, now in his 67th season. He has been behind the microphone for 20 no-hitters and three perfect games. The honors bestowed upon Vin by the Dodgers include having him throw out the ceremonial first pitch and making a bobblehead doll in his likeness; and WHEREAS, Vin has been named California Sportscaster of the Year 31 times, won the Ford Frick Award in 1982, was awarded an Emmy for Lifetime Achievement in 1995, was named Broadcaster of the Century in 2000 by The American Sportscasters Association, was named the greatest broadcaster of all time in historian Curt Smith's 2005 book Voices of Summer, was the Grand Marshal of the 2014 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, and was the recipient of the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award, the second nonplayer to receive the prestigious distinction after Jackie Robinson's widow, Rachel. In 2016, in honor of his final season behind the microphone, the Los Angeles city council renamed Elysian Park Avenue, the street on which Dodger Stadium is located, "Vin Scully Avenue," making the ballpark' s address 100 Vin Scully Avenue; and WHEREAS, Vin joined Hall of Fame announcer Red Barber and Connie Desmond as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers' broadcast team in 1950, just one year after graduating from Fordham University. And in 1982, 32 years after he called his first Dodgers game, he was inducted into the Broadcaster's wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame; and WHEREAS, Vin, whose vivid yet simple descriptions of baseball games have thrilled fans since 1950, has been behind the mic not just calling the play-by-play, but painting verbal pictures, making each game truly captivating regardless of the score or the standings of the teams. He has shared with us his profound gifts that have put him at the top of his profession: an unforgettable and beautiful voice, a rich imagination giving him the perfect description to every moment of a broadcast, a contagious enthusiasm for the game of baseball regardless of which teams are playing, and an ability to talk with listeners, wherever they may be, as if he is an old friend; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the portion of Interstate 5 between State Route 134 and State Route 110 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.