Mesa Musings:

Rarely is a legend fully appreciated during his or her lifetime.

Thankfully, that’s not the case with longtime Los Angeles Dodgers broadcasting icon Vin Scully. In April, Vin celebrated the beginning of his 60th season by throwing out the first ball at the team’s home opener.

Now, a new book in his honor, “Pull Up a Chair: the Vin Scully Story,” has been released by Potomac Books.

Scully, 81, is receiving his just rewards as baseball’s most gifted raconteur. If this isn’t his final season in the broadcast booth, it certainly must be something close to it. A matchless era will conclude when the mellifluous Irishman retires.

The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to L.A. in 1958. I was a 13-year-old student at Rea Junior High in Costa Mesa, and I began listening to games during spring training. I got to know the Dodgers broadcasting team of Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett.

By the time the Dodgers opened the 1958 season at the Coliseum, I was fully invested. Most kids at my school had “Mary loves Bobby” or “Tommy loves Peggy” inscribed on their three-ring binders. I had “L.A. Dodgers” crudely executed in ballpoint script.

One day that summer — after seeing an ad in the Globe-Herald (now Daily Pilot) — my brother and I rode our bikes to the All-American Market on 19th Street to meet first baseman Gil Hodges and procure an autographed picture. It far surpassed the thrill of going to Dick’s Market on Newport Boulevard the previous year to see Little Oscar and his “Weinermobile.” The strapping Hodges was an authentic American hero. I looked upon him with awe and wonder.

Though I’ve admired dozens of players over the decades, my favorite all-time Dodger has always been Vin Scully.

One night during that first season in L.A., I almost burned down our house listening to a Dodgers broadcast. I snuck the radio beneath my covers after going to bed, and fell asleep listening to Vinny call the action. I awoke at 2 a.m. My covers were scorched, and my plastic radio had collapsed into a molten heap!

My dad took my brother and me to several games. By then, I’d acquired a transistor radio and brought it along so that I could listen to Vinny’s play-by-play. I kept one eye on the field and the other on the press box.

Sometime during the summer of 1959 I wrote Vinny a letter. I said: “Mr. Scully, I want to be a broadcaster like you. What do I need to do?” A week later came his reply.

The letter was typed on a manual typewriter, and contained several strikeovers. He wrote: “Jimmy, stay in school, work hard in your classes and go to college.” It wasn’t quite what a 14-year-old wanted to hear (I would have preferred: “Jimmy, come to the press box this Sunday and I’ll let you sit beside me”), but I never forgot his advice.

My sophomore year at Costa Mesa High School, I wrote an essay about Vin for an English assignment. I mentioned my dream of becoming a broadcaster. Providentially, my teacher, John Logan, was assigned press box supervision duties for Mesa football games the following fall. He invited me to be the P.A. announcer, and I did so my junior and senior years. I couldn’t have been more excited had I been selected by Coach Don Burns to play quarterback for the Mustangs!

I took Vinny’s advice and became the first member of my family to earn a college degree. No, I never replaced him in the broadcast booth, but I embarked on a career that, personally, couldn’t have been more rewarding.

I was hired by my alma mater, OCC, in 1971 as director of community relations, and I continued to dabble in my first love. For 21 seasons I was P.A. announcer for Pirate football games, and for 15 I announced basketball. I retired last year.

Vinny taught me about fidelity, loyalty and longevity. As OCC’s public relations director, I frequently spoke to community groups. I endeavored always to conduct myself with the grace and dignity of my hero.

Congratulations, Mr. Scully, on your unparalleled career! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule in 1959 to respond to a letter from a 14-year-old.

You changed his life.

JIM CARNETT lives in Costa Mesa. His column runs Wednesdays.