Vin Scully - Personal Life and Tragedy

Personal Life and Tragedy

Scully has endured a pair of personal tragedies in his life. In 1972, his 35-year-old wife, Joan Crawford (no relation to the actress), died of an accidental medical overdose. Scully was suddenly a widowed father of three after 15 years of marriage. In late 1973, he married Sandra Schaefer, who had two children of her own, and they soon had a child together.

In 1994, Scully's eldest son, Michael, died in a helicopter crash at the age of 33 while working for the ARCO Transportation Company. Although Michael's death still haunts him, Scully, a devout Roman Catholic, said (while being interviewed by Bryant Gumbel on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel in July 2005) that he credits his faith and being able to dive back into his work with helping him ease the burden and grief.

The first biography of Scully's life, Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story, written by Curt Smith, was published in 2009.

Scully reportedly will not usually attend or watch a baseball game that he is not announcing. It was not until 2004, first, and then again in 2010, that he and the then owner of the Dodgers, Frank McCourt, attended a game at Fenway Park, that Scully went to a pro baseball game as a spectator.