How did this book get its title as a way show appreciation for the life and times of Vin Scully, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Hall of Fame broadcaster?

The editors at University of Nebraska Press were struck by the headline of a magazine story from Scully’s alma mater, Fordham University, when posting its own tribute called “Perfect Eloquence.”

It was a reference to a piece from another story titled “The Beautiful Life of Vin Scully” as written by Tom Verducci in a May 2016 Sports Illustrated issue:

“Michael T. Gillan, the dean of Fordham’s College of Liberal Studies, presented Scully with an honorary doctorate of human letters (in 2000). With just two Latin words Gillan defined what makes Scully Scully: eloquentia perfecta.

“The literal translation is “perfect speech,” but the words connote communication of the highest order.

“The concept emerged from the rhetorical studies of the ancient Greeks, grew through Renaissance humanism and was codified in Ratio Studiorum, the 1599 document that standardized the Jesuit teaching tradition. It refers to the ideal orator: a good person speaking well for the common good.

“All Fordham freshmen, including Scully, Class of 1949, took Eloquentia Perfecta, a seminar course taught by the school’s most accomplished faculty. Eloquentia perfecta is the mastery of written and spoken expression guided by consistent principles. One of its core principles is humility. The speaker begins not with himself but with an understanding of the needs and concerns of his audience, not a personal agenda.

“Vin Scully was that ideal orator. A modern Socrates, only more revered.

“He was an amazing firsthand witness and chronicler of history. … And yet never did Vin place himself above the people and events he was there to chronicle.”

As I believe his actions often spoke louder than his words, the purpose here is to capture that with more essays, remembrances and photos.

The book launched in spring of 2024. This site can be a place for those who want to add their own eulogies of Vin. We want to post more than the 67 essays that are included in the book.

This is a tribute going further than the essay we wrote marking what would have been Vin’s 95th birthday, as well as this story we wrote for Angelus News that expanded on Vin’s impact.

A friend once asked: Could Vin Scully actually be considered a saint in the making? What would it take to have him canonized? Consider this part of the choir preaching his legacy of kindness, faith, humility, compassion and inspiration to be a good human being.