Acting Gov. Kevin de León declares Friday ‘Vin Scully Day’ in California

The honors and accolades have been pilling up for iconic broadcaster Vin Scully as he embarks on his 67th and final season as the voice of Dodgers baseball. 

Earlier this year the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to rename the street leading up to Dodger Stadium Vin Scully Avenue.

Now state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) is taking advantage of his time as acting governor to proclaim July 8, 2016, “Vin Scully Day” in California. 

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“The voice of Vin Scully has become the song of summer for generations of Los Angeles baseball fans and aficionados of excellence in sports broadcasting,” De León wrote in the proclamation.

With Gov. Jerry Brown and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom out of state on vacation — Brown is in Europe and Newsom in Montana — De León is in charge until Monday and he is flexing his executive power to honor fellow Southern Californian Scully.

In the proclamation De León, whose state Senate district includes Dodger Stadium, calls Scully “humorous, lyrical, and even tender.”

Vin Scully: Voice of the Dodgers, soundtrack to a California childhood »

He praised Scully for “knowing when to let the roar of the crowd tell the story” as Scully did after Dodger Kirk Gibson hit a walk-off home run against the Oakland Athletics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series before declaring: “In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened."

“I urge all Californians to take time to appreciate the treasure that is Vin Scully as not just an announcer but, as former baseball Commissioner Bud Selig put it, ‘the embodiment of the goodwill that our game inspires,’ and a reminder of why baseball is ‘forever the national pastime,’” De León wrote.

Acting governors usually stick to ceremonial duties unless a crisis emerges. 

When Newsom served as acting governor while Brown was on a trade mission to China in 2013, he got right to work. He declared the artichoke and avocado California’s official vegetable and fruit. Then he named the almond the state nut and rice California’s official grain.

Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) served as acting governor in 2014 when the three politicians above her were out of state, becoming the first openly gay person to serve as California governor.

javier.panzar@latimes.com

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