Evan Phillips’ emotional Vin Scully tribute shows Dodgers are motivated

The Los Angeles Dodgers community, as well as the baseball world at large, lost a pillar upon which this great game has rested for over 70 years on Tuesday night when the team announced the passing of Vin Scully.

Scully felt like a keepsake unique to the city of Los Angeles, but in reality, he meant so much to so many baseball (and football!) fans across the country, who fell in love with his melodic voice and tuned into his late-night Dodger broadcasts whenever their own game had wrapped.

Of course, there was also Scully’s national impact on the World Series and NFL playoffs; though you’d typically expect him to be flipping a Sandy Koufax anecdote fresh out of the oven at a moment’s notice, he was also present for moments as disparate as the iconic Bill Buckner game, Hank Aaron’s record-breaking home run, and Dwight Clark’s catch.

Anyone and everyone grew up a Scully devotee, leaving the current Dodgers with quite an emotional void to fill down the stretch, even if they did not grow up bleeding blue.

Reliever Evan Phillips, who’s become an essential piece of the bullpen of the best team in baseball in 2022, delivered a truly heartfelt message on his Instagram story about how the loss of Scully will propel the team forward. If you’re already teetering on the edge of an emotional overload, this might get you.

Dodgers reliever Evan Phillips posts amazing Instagram tribute to Vin Scully

Make the man proud, kid.

Phillips might just have worked his way from being an offseason afterthought to the forefront of that process, especially without Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol for so much of 2022. The right-hander, who’s bounced around plenty before finding a home in Hollywood, has been worth a wild 1.4 WAR this season, posting a studly 0.829 WHIP in 41 innings. He’s been so good, in fact, that a retired Scully could’ve easily watched him this season, tipped his cap, and imagined Phil Regan’s most elite season, or an early-80s Tom Niedenfuer campaign.

Armed with the best record in baseball — and the best returning arms — the 2022 Dodgers could easily add another trophy to the franchise’s extended case. Rest assured, Scully will be watching, even if he won’t be the one narrating the World Series film this time around.

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