I love watching the Dodgers on TV with the legend Vin Scully broadcasting the game, a job he has had since1950 when the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.
On the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, he told the story of a most unlikely homerun.
In 1962, Gaylord Perry was a rookie pitcher practicing his swing in the batting cages. A reporter watching saracastically told the Giants manager that Perry was going to hit a lot of homeruns for the team. The manager responded: “There will be a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a homerun!”
On July 20, 1969, Gaylord Perry hit his first homerun, just a few hours after Neil Armstrong took “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
I love stories like that! Snopes cannot verify it, but if Vin Scully said it, then I know it’s true!
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out NASA’s refurbished footage of the moon landing and the first moonwalk.