Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story (Library Edition) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Curt Smith (Author), Don Leslie (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2010

In 1950, Vin Scully broadcast his first major league baseball game for the then--Brooklyn Dodgers. Nearly sixty years later he still invites a listener to ''pull up a chair,'' completing a record fifty-ninth consecutive year of play-by-play.

Recruited and mentored by the legendary Red Barber, the New York-born Scully moved with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in early 1958. His instantly recognizable voice has described players from Duke Snider to Orel Hershiser to Manny Ramirez, with hundreds in between.

At one time or another, Scully has aired NBC Television's Game of the Week, twelve All-Star Games, eighteen no-hitters, twenty-five World Series, and network football, golf, and tennis. He has made every sportscasting Hall of Fame; received a Lifetime Emmy Achievement award and a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; and been voted ''most memorable [L.A. Dodgers] franchise personality.'' In 2000, the American Sportscasters Association named Scully the Sportscaster of the 20th Century.

This long overdue biography of Vin Scully is written by Curt Smith, called 'the voice of authority on baseball broadcasting' (USA Today). Scully opens each broadcast by wishing listeners, ''A very pleasant good afternoon.'' Pull Up a Chair will provide a reader with the same.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Riveting and exquisitely reported. --Washington Post

About the Author

Curt Smith is the author of twelve sports books, including the classic Voices of The Game, The Voice: Mel Allen's Untold Story, and Voices of Summer: Ranking Baseball s 101 All-Time Best Announcers. He is a GateHouse Media columnist; XM Satellite Radio and National Public Radio affiliate host; and former speechwriter to President George H.W. Bush. Smith has written for, among others, Newsweek, the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, and the Washington Post. A senior lecturer of English at the University of Rochester, he lives in upstate New York.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.; Unabridged library edition (April 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441732403
• ISBN-13: 978-1441732408
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,895,897 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "VINNIE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL-TIME... HE DESERVES A BETTER STORY THAN THIS.", May 18, 2009

By 

Rick Shaq Goldstein "*SHAQ*" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

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This review is from: Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story (Hardcover)

Vince Scully the legendary Hall Of Fame announcer for the Brooklyn and now Los Angeles Dodgers... is nearing his sixtieth complete year of broadcasting. I happen to have been blessed to listen to Vinnie as a young boy in New York... and then miraculously... our family moved to Los Angeles the same exact year as the Dodgers... so I have never missed a single year of Vinnie's poetic... magical... announcing of our families beloved Dodgers from the time I was old enough to know the difference between a ball and a strike... till today... when as a Grandfather I listen to Vinnie with my grandchild. This is a book that is long over do... but unfortunately... I'm sad to say it is disappointing for a number of reasons.

Since Vinnie did not participate in the development of this book the author depends entirely on historical quotes... and on countless occasions many sentences and paragraphs include numerous quotes from multiple individuals... and many times the same section has more than one quote from the same individual... IN NO LOGICAL SEQUENCE... and the reader becomes dumbfounded as to which quotes came from which individuals. At times such as these the flow of the story comes to a standstill as the reader literally scratches his head and tries to figure out who said what.

There are also numerous typos and/or sentences that just don't make sense. Such as page forty-eight when the author writes: "IT WOULDN'T HAVE GONE THROUGH THE (BROOKLYN) FENCE." "MUSED CAMPANELLA. MIGHT HAVE GONE THROUGH IT, THOUGH." Huh?? Or on page ninety-nine "THE KID YOU'D LIKE TO SEE RINGING YOUR DOORBELL WHEN YOU DAUGHTER STARTS DATING." There are also important historical mistakes such as the stating that in 1966 Koufax won his third straight Cy Young award. That is incorrect. Koufax didn't win three straight awards... though he did win the Cy Young in 1963,1965 and 1966. The reader is also let down when the most famous baseball fight in modern history involving the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers when Giant Juan Marichal hit Dodger catcher Johnnie Roseboro over the head with a bat is discussed, and none of the prior game detail that culminated in this horrendous event is covered.

When the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles Vinnie and the transistor radio is what fueled the Dodgers growth in popularity as much as the team itself. Every member of the family from Grandma and Grandpa... to Mom and Dad... and the kids... all knew Vince Scully simply... and lovingly... by one word "VINNIE". He was a one name superstar way before Madonna... Britney... Magic and Michael. Vinnie was voted *THE MOST MEMORABLE PERSONALITY IN THE HISTORY OF THE LOS ANGELES DODGER FRANCHISE!* This book chronologically covers all the bases in Scully's career... but it is not an easy read due to the sloppiness mentioned earlier. What may or may not be an interesting coincidence... is that this book and the last shoddy baseball book I read... were both mysteriously delivered a couple of weeks "earlier" than the original release dates that had been posted on Amazon for months. Perhaps the publishers cut down on quality control to simply get the books out quicker than originally scheduled for some unknown marketing reasons. If so... I hope they learned their lesson.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great subject, sloppy writing/editing, May 22, 2009

By 

James Mushener (Southern California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story (Hardcover)

As a previous reviewer said, the book came out too quickly. Throughout the book, quotes just appear, without it being clear who said them. Sentences come from nowhere (seemingly misplaced from other chapters where they belong). A very difficult read. Not the quality that Vin Scully deserves, that's for sure.
Hold off on buying this until the problems are corrected.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing - - poor writing, very little insight, September 11, 2009

By 

Joe Consolino (Silver Spring, Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story (Hardcover)

Love Vin Scully, and was looking forward to learning more about him and some behind the scenes stories. So there was an excellent chance I was going to like this book.

Unfortunately, it was one of the most disappointing books I can remember reading. It is only the 3rd book in my life that I returned to the store; the writing was that poor; the information that uninteresting. Very little insight into Vin; very little if any time was spent by the author with Vin. The writing was amateurish (and as you can tell, I am certainly not a great writer, so for me to think "amateurish", well...). The story bounced all over the map - - I had no clue where the next paragraph was going to go because it was often unrelated to the paragraph before. Incomplete sentences and incomplete thoughts abound in this book.

I have since found out that Mr. Scully did not authorize this book, nor did he have much participation in the book. But then, that was obvious to anyone reading the book.

I rarely review items, but again, this one was so bad and disappointing and such a waste of time, I felt I should share.