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Opinion: Decoding Vin Scully

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In Thursday’s Opinion pages, author Jon Winokur pays tribute to Vin Scully, who begins his 62nd season as the Dodgers’ announcer.

Vinny -- the fan intends no disrespect -- is gifted with such powers of description that he is called ‘the poet laureate of baseball.’ But he knows when to keep quiet: He uses crowd noise the way a painter uses negative space, silently letting the energy resonate. He also knows precisely when to start talking again in that genial baritone, speaking just to you.

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Winokur also nods his hat to some of Scully’s one-liners, such as: Bob Gibson ‘pitches as though he’s double-parked.’ That’s not all. Click after the jump for the official Vin Scully lexicon.

A modest thing but thine own: A cheap hit. Back, a waay back … it’s gone!: Home run call.

BB: A very good fastball; that is, it looks like a pellet to the batter.

Big butter-and-egg man: A slugger; a batter who reliably delivers with men on base.

Blur: A hard line drive.

That breaks the spell: The hit that ruins a no-hitter.

Bring one with him: Execute a drag bunt.

Celery stalks: The sound of a cracked bat.

Climb the ladder: Jump high to catch a ball.

Counting string: Keeping track of consecutive scoreless innings, hitting streaks, etc.

Deuces wild: Two on, two out, with a 2-and-2 count on the batter; wilder still if the score is also 2-2 or there are two men on base.

Down and dirty: A breaking ball that finishes in the dirt.

Flare: A short pop-up.

Forget it!: Home run call.

From me to you: By a big margin; that is, “He was out from me to you.”

Go quietly: Make three quick outs in an inning.

Hang it: First baseman leads pitcher coming to the bag to make a putout.

In business: In position for a big inning; as in “With men on first and third with nobody out, the Dodgers are in business.”

Little nubber: A soft grounder hit off the end of the bat.

Little roller: A soft grounder along the first- or third-base line.

Major-league popup: A very high fly ball.

Marching and chowder society: The group of friends and family that has come to the game to watch a player; as in ‘The Russ Mitchell marching and chowder society.”

Oh-fer: Hitless so far; that is, zero (‘O’) for three, four, etc.

A Pier 6 brawl: A donnybrook.

A rabbit is loose: A fast runner is on base.

Rearrange the furniture: Reset the defensive alignment.

Room service grounder: The fielder doesn’t have to move to catch it.

Seeing things with their hearts: Describes, say, excessive cheering by the crowd for a routine fly, or booing an umpire for what is actually a good call.

Shuffling his cards: The catcher is reflashing the signs to the pitcher.

Smoke ring: A zero; that is, “Another smoke ring goes up on the scoreboard.”

Soap bubble: Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla’s slow curve.

Standing room only: Bases are loaded.

Stats ‘n’ stories: Scully’s near-endless supply of anecdotes, most of which are better in the retelling.

They’re moving around in the bullpen: A relief pitcher is preparing to warm up.

Wear out: Performing consistently well against another team or pitcher -- ‘Brad Hawpe (George Foster, Jim Ray Hart) just wears out the Dodgers.’

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Wrinkle one in: Drop a curveball into the strike zone.

Up jumped the devil!: A familiar and predictable downfall, as when a gopher-ball pitcher allows a home run at the worst possible moment.

Zinzinnati: Cincinnati. After radio comedian Jack Pearl, whose trademark line was ‘Vass you ever in Zinzinnati?’

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