Fleetwood Mac, Matthew McConaughey, Arsenio Hall Honor Vin Scully at Blue Diamond Gala
Fleetwood Mac played a concert in front of a star-studded audience at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ second annual Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night. Among those stars in attendance were Matthew McConaughey, John Mayer, Sylvester Stallone, and Will Forte.
The gala, which honored legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully’s 67-year career with the baseball organization, opened with a dinner and then transitioned into the stadium for a tribute to Scully, a charity auction, and a concert to close the night. The legendary rock band whirled through nearly two hours of hits, highlighted by a rendition of “Landslide” which singer Stevie Nicks dedicated to the guest of honor.
An “honored, delighted, and humbled” Scully spoke to the crowd before the concert, sharing a few of the sort of anecdotes he laced his broadcasts with throughout the seven decades, before closing with a heartfelt “thank you.” Scully said, “If I could sum up the love affair that I’ve had with baseball, and the love affair that I’ve had with the Dodgers: Thank God, in two words. I will thank him from now until the end of time, and I will thank you tonight for this wonderful honor.”
Stars walking the carpet gushed about the baseball legend. Arsenio Hall, who called Scully “the Michael Jordan of the mic,” reminisced about a memorable Scully broadcast. “One time I heard Vin Scully describe the view of a fan looking towards center field and talking about how this stadium is like none other. He described it with such magic and such poetry it was like E. E. Cummings telling you where you were watching a baseball game.”
Legendary Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser spoke about the impact that Scully’s legendary status had on him when he was first starting out, “When you become a big leaguer, you worry about getting your first baseball card, about getting your first bat with your name on it, your first glove with your name embroidered on it,” Hershiser said, “but when you have Vin Scully as your announcer life gets kind of surreal.”
Jaleel White, of “Family Matters” fame, lamented the effect that Scully’s impending retirement will have on the baseball experience. “With him, you can’t imagine watching the game without hearing it. So now that that component is going to be missing, you’re going to notice it.”
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