It’s been a while since Vin Scully, the long-time voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers, wished us a very pleasant good afternoon. That all could have changed when FS1’s Joe Buck, who’s been calling the NLCS with John Smoltz, offered Scully a spot in the booth ahead of Game 3 in Los Angeles. 

Scully declined, in his trademark humble style. 

“I don’t want to just take a bow,” Scully said to the LA Times. “I just don’t feel right doing that.” 

Joe Buck has been asking for this honor for years, dating back to the 2016 All-Star Game and World Series. During the 2016 World Series, Buck also had to answer fans and a Change.org petition, who were calling for him to hand the mic over to Bob Uecker, the radio announcer for the Brewers since 1971, but also known as the voice of the Cleveland Indians in the Major League movies. 

Just under two years after that tweet, Joe Buck got his wish. Uecker came up to the booth and called the top half of the 3rd inning. 

Most of the outcry has been to get Buck out of the booth period. There’s a lack of feel and description that comes with a game called by Joe Buck. Sure there’s his low cadence and even-keel demeanor lends themselves to unbiased broadcasting, but Joe Buck isn’t Bob Uecker or Vin Scully. He’ll never be on their level. 

And he won’t be in the same booth with Scully any time soon. 

“It’s not false modesty,” Scully said to the LA Times. “I just think I don’t belong there.

“Those fellows have been broadcasting all year. I don’t want to get into their spotlight in any way, shape, or form. I think they’re doing a wonderful job.”

Vin Scully has always been a man who could find the perfect words of the perfect moment, and even when declining an invitation, he’s no exception. May Vin Scully never be anything but World Class. 

And now, a treat…