Vin Scully honored with lifetime achievement award by Los Angeles Sports Council

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully received a lifetime achievement award Thursday night from the Los Angeles Sports Council.

Scully, 88, is set to begin his 67th and final season in the booth for the Dodgers. He began his tenure in 1950, when the club was still in Brooklyn, and has been the primary play-by-play voice for the team for all 58 years that it has been in L.A. He's been an announcer longer than anyone else in sports history.

"We all can't be heroes. Most of us have to stand at the curb and cheer as they go by, and for 67 years, thank God, that's what I've been blessed to be. I've been that man on the curb applauding as the heroes went by," Scully said while accepting his award, which was presented by former Dodgers President Peter O'Malley.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said he grew up listening to Scully's voice.

"Vin, you are Dodger baseball. In many ways, it's your voice that narrated my childhood, the highs, the lows, the big plays that mark the summertime in Los Angeles, if we were lucky even deep into the fall," Garcetti said. "You represent the spirit of this city. You are an angel in the City of Angels, and your legacy reminds each one of us that in this town sports have a capacity to be emblematic, something much larger than one game or one season."

Earlier this month, the L.A. City Council unanimously approved renaming Elysian Park Avenue as Vin Scully Avenue, via a proposal brought forward by councilman Gil Cedillo.

The new Vin Scully Avenue will stretch one-third of a mile from Sunset Boulevard to the main entrance to Dodger Stadium.

"A path to Dodger Stadium is a pathway to my heart," Scully said. "For 55 years, it has been an honor to walk that road to one of the greatest entertainment centers in the world, a place that has brought so much joy to all of us. I thank God for this great honor."

The L.A. Sports Council also named Clippers forward Blake Griffin as its Sportsman of the Year. Griffin suffered a spiral fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his right hand during an altercation with Clippers equipment manager Matias Testi on Jan. 23. He was suspended four games without pay.

The Clippers donated Griffin's salary to charities that help disadvantaged youth in the city. Griffin apologized for his actions, and the L.A. Sports Council decided to go forward with the award.