Legendary baseball announcer Vin Scully died Tuesday. He was 94.

In addition to having called Los Angeles Dodgers games for 67 years, stretching back to when the team was in Brooklyn before moving to the West Coast in 1957, Scully was known for his ability to both keep track of the action on the field while telling detailed and insightful stories about ballplayers and other subjects at the same time.

Scully began his broadcasts with a cheery greeting. “Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good afternoon to you wherever you may be.” 

He retired after the 2016 season.

“Today we mourn the loss of a legend in our game. Vin was an extraordinary man whose gift for broadcasting brought joy to generations of Dodger fans,” said Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred. “In addition, his voice played a memorable role in some of the greatest moments in the history of our sport.  I am proud that Vin was synonymous with Baseball because he embodied the very best of our National Pastime.  As great as he was as a broadcaster, he was equally great as a person.”

Nationally, Scully announced three World Series, calling moments including Kirk Gibson’s home run to win Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. He also called four All-Star Games for NBC, batted cleanup for NBC’s Game of the Week and was at the mike when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run, topping Babe Ruth.

He also broadcast football games and golf matches for CBS Sports. In 1970, ABC wanted Scully to do Monday Night Football, but his commitment to the Dodgers prevented that.

Scully was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.

“The broadcast industry lost one of its greats in the passing of Vin Scully, whose legendary play-by-plays and passion for the game of baseball touched the lives of generations," said National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt. "He is an American icon who elevated the art of sportscasting and whose legacy lives on in his many contributions to broadcasting and among his legions of fans. We offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends and fans.” ■

More fans in the Los Angeles area will finally get to see Dodgers games after all this season.

Time Warner Cable has secured an agreement to broadcast the final week of Dodger games on KDOC, an independent broadcast station carried by every cable, satellite and telco provider in Southern California.

The station, which can also be received over the air with an antenna, will transmit the signal from SportsNet LA, the Dodgers regional sports network that has been shut out from carriage during its rookie season save for on Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks systems. Time Warner Cable is handling affiliate sales for the RSN, which features the legenday broadcaster Vin Scully and televised pitcher Clayton Kershaw's historic year, including his no-hitter (pictured).

KDOC, located in Santa Ana and licensed to Ellis Communications, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Titan Broadcast Management, will air the club’s final six games. KDOC will televise a pair of three-game Dodgers sets against their rivals the San Francisco Giants from Sept. 22-24 at 7:10 p.m. (PT) over whom LA currently holds a three-game lead in the National League West, and the final series against the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 26 at 7:10 p.m., Sept. 27 at 6:10 p.m. and Sept. 28 at 1:10 p.m.

“Time Warner Cable is part of this community and we’re Dodger fans too,” said TWC COO Dinni Jain in a statement. “Angelenos love their Dodgers, and we’re happy to give them a way to watch their beloved team during this pennant chase.”

Asked whether the station deal was the result of the time buy or some marketing package, a TWC spokeswoman replied “We’re not going to discuss the specifics of the agreement with KDOC, but we are very pleased that they were willing to work with us on this so that we could put Dodger fans first.”

Time Warner Cable has said it was willing to accept outside arbitration to resolve the current carriage dispute, which has drawn comment from Capitol Hill (notably a bunch of unhappy California congressfolk) and the FCC.

Time Warner Cable launched SportsNet LA in February, but distributors, notably DirecTV, balked about the price — some reports put it $4 per sub per month or higher — especially when combined with other RSNs in the market. In addition to the DBS leader, Dish Network, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse have all sat out on the distribution sidelines this season.

After a number of California members of the House voiced their concerns about the situation, FCC Tom Wheeler gathered information about the negotiating process. In an interview with Mulitchannel News, Wheeler last week urged TWC and those MVPD's to put aside their differences and let viewers see the final games, which TWC has evidently accomplished without striking carriage deals with the providers in question.

“Right now, we can’t change the fact that other area TV distributors won’t carry the channel, but we don’t want anyone to miss this exciting pennant run,” said Jain. We hope everyone will tune in to KDOC and help us cheer on the Dodgers. We will continue to work on long-term agreements with other providers in the off season.”

"Time Warner Cable has worked hard to get other providers to carry SportsNet LA so all fans will have access to games," he added. "The company even agreed to enter into binding arbitration to secure a deal and offered to make games available during arbitration. Unfortunately, other providers have refused."

Sports Fan Coalition chairman David Goodfriend dipped into a baseball analogy to get his view of TWC's play across: "This is like sending in your starting pitcher in the 9th inning when you're down 10 runs: Too little too late. Time Warner Cable already has denied millions of Dodgers fans almost an entire season and the company will do it again next year unless something big happens.  Here's an idea:  no government action on the pending Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger until anyone in Southern California who wants to see the Dodgers games on TV can do so.  No Dodgers, no merger.  Period."

KDOC can be seen on the following channels:

The broiling carriage dispute between Time Warner Cable’s SportsNet LA and DirecTV took a nasty turn last week, but the straw that could break the proverbial camel’s back involves one single customer who won’t get to enjoy watching Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games in the comfort of his own home – Vin Scully.

That’s right. The golden-voiced Dodger’s announcer is a DirecTV subscriber and according to reports won’t get to watch the games he isn’t covering. DirecTV isn’t the only distributor not carrying the network – Cox, Dish Network, AT&T U-Verse, and Charter also have declined to carry the channel so far. To date, only subscribers of Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks (in Bakersfield, Calif.) and Champion Broadband (in Monrovia and Arcadia, Calif.) have access to the network.

In characteristic classy fashion, Scully declined to get involved in the bloody scrum that has become commonplace in sports carriage disputes, telling the Los Angeles Daily News “The less I say about it, it’s probably the better.”

That is advice that both Time Warner Cable and DirecTV should take to heart. In the past few days, according to reports, both sides kicked up the acrimony a notch, with TWC EVP and chief video and content officer Melinda Witmer telling theLos Angeles Timesthat DirecTV walked away from the negotiating table and has no intention of carrying the RSN this year. DirecTV said “that nothing could be further from the truth,” followed by the usual claims of deception and manipulation by Time Warner Cable.

Look, these disputes are always about money – Time Warner Cable is reportedly demanding upwards of $4 per subscriber per month for SportsNet LA, on top of the $3 or so it gets for the Lakers channel, Time Warner Cable SportsNet. And both sides are equally guilty of escalating levels of name-calling during these disputes – followed by their heartfelt thanks that consumers have been spared the horror of missing their favorite show or team for a week or a month or so after these deals are reached.

But in dragging Vin Scully, THE Vin Scully into this mess, I’m hoping that maybe just maybe it could drum up enough public outrage to settle this matter. (I’m a Yankee fan, but I find it hard to believe if Michael Kay lost access to the YES Network, anyone would notice.) Or a least it could give both sides some words to consider living by.

Scully has a lot of those words, as a quick look at the Baseball Almanac proves.  After all, this is the guy who said of former Montreal Expo and Chicago Cub Andre Dawson’s bruised knee – it’s “listed as day to day, but aren’t we all?” Who said “Good is not good when better is expected." Whose most famous home run call was simply “Forget it.”