The Sports Report: Vin Scully dies at 94

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Bill Plaschke: He was the soundtrack of a city, the muse of millions, the voice of home.

Vin Scully is gone, but he will never be silenced.

Forever he will be heard on soft spring afternoons, a serenade of rebirth, a song of hope.

“It’s tiiiime for Dodger baseball!”

Forever he will resonate on warm summer nights, the music of family, the lyrics of life.

“Hi, everybody, and a very pleasant good evening to you wherever you may be. . . .”

Scully died Tuesday at 94, but his poetic narration of Los Angeles’ most enduring sports franchise will ring in our hearts forever.

Officially, for 67 years, he was the television and radio broadcaster for Dodgers baseball, including from the moment they arrived in town in 1958 until his retirement in 2016.

Unofficially, he was a guy who sang show tunes on his drive to work, attended weekly Mass outside the Dodgers’ clubhouse, and would spend afternoons sitting by his backyard pool doing play-by-play of his children swimming.

Officially, he existed behind a microphone in a tiny cramped booth high above Dodger Stadium home plate, reluctant to be shown on the video board, happy to be the anonymous narrator who, on his bobblehead night, never once mentioned it was his bobblehead night.

Unofficially, he was everywhere.

He was such a part of the fabric of this city that his voice was an actual landmark, a lilting Hollywood sign, a poetic Griffith Park, a storytelling Santa Monica Pier.

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DODGERS

From Jack Harris: After falling short of the trading deadline’s biggest prize in Juan Soto, the Dodgers on Tuesday decided to take a flier to add depth to their lineup.

The team acquired Joey Gallo from the New York Yankees, sending pitching prospect Clayton Beeter back in the deal.

Gallo, 28, is a two-time All-Star who at times has been one of the most prolific left-handed sluggers in the game, with 170 home runs.

He has struggled, however, since joining the Yankees from the Texas Rangers at last year’s deadline. In 82 games this season, he is batting just .159 and has a .621 on-base-plus-slugging percentage with 12 home runs and 24 RBIs. He has 106 strikeouts in 273 plate appearances.

Still, the Dodgers are hoping Gallo can give their lineup a boost, acquiring the pending free agent in a relatively low-cost move in which they will only give up Beeter, the club’s No. 15-ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline who has a 5.75 ERA in 18 games at double A this season.

Gallo won’t be the only slumping left-handed hitter on the Dodgers’ roster. The team has been waiting for Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger to rediscover their old form amid season-long struggles.

Despite that, the Dodgers still rank first in the majors as a team in OPS, second in runs, third in batting average and fifth in home runs.

While it seems unlikely Gallo would become an everyday player for the Dodgers — especially with a .102 batting average and .390 OPS against left-handed pitching this year — he does give them more depth at a time when they are dealing with injuries to Chris Taylor and Justin Turner, and could perhaps be an option for a platoon role in left field or at designated hitter.

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From Jack Harris and Mike DiGiovanna: Last week, Juan Soto was showered with “Future Dodger!” chants by the Dodger Stadium crowd.

The next time he returns to Chavez Ravine, he’ll almost certainly be met with a far different reception.

The Washington Nationals on Tuesday traded Soto to the San Diego Padres — making the 23-year-old superstar outfielder the latest blockbuster addition for the Dodgers’ division rivals.

Soto was dealt along with first baseman Josh Bell to the Padres in exchange for a massive return of prospects and young players: left-handed starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore, right-hander Jarlin Susana, shortstop C.J. Abrams and outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood. Luke Voit a 31-year-old first baseman/designated, is also headed to the Nationals.

Soto will a join a lineup headlined by Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr.

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ANGELS

From Sarah Valenzuela: Noah Syndergaard, Raisel Iglesias and Brandon Marsh are all leaving Anaheim.

In a series of moves made in the last hours and minutes of this year’s trade deadline, the Angels on Tuesday traded Syndergaard and Marsh to the Philadelphia Phillies and Iglesias to the Atlanta Braves.

While the trade of Syndergaard was expected, the moves involving Marsh and Iglesias were not and both expressed surprise upon learning of their new destinations.

The Angels, 16 games under .500, traded the right-handed Syndergaard to the Phillies for outfielders Mickey Moniak and Jadiel Sanchez. It was the second trade of the day between the teams, as the Angels earlier sent Marsh to Philadelphia for catcher Logan O’Hoppe, the No. 3 prospect for the Phillies.

Iglesias, the Angels’ closer, was sent to the Braves for pitchers Jesse Chavez and Tucker Davidson.

Syndergaard signed with the Angels on a one-year deal worth $21 million last offseason. After this season, he will be eligible for free agency.

SPARKS

Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting, Natasha Howard had 24 points and 11 rebounds and the New York Liberty beat the Sparks 102-73 on Tuesday night in the first of back-to-back games between the teams.

The Liberty (12-18) and the Sparks (12-18), who play again Wednesday in New York, are tied with the Atlanta Dream for the eighth and final playoff spot with less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, a half-game behind the Phoenix Mercury (13-18) and a half-game ahead of the 11th-place Minnesota Lynx (12-19).

CHARGERS

From Jeff Miller: Determined to improve their chances, the Chargers added plenty in the offseason, including four Super Bowl champions.

Two of them — linebacker Troy Reeder and defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day — are reigning champions, having won with the Rams last season.

On Tuesday, Reeder said that when he looks at the 2022 Chargers he can detect a bit of the 2021 Rams.

“I was blessed to be around a group that did do it the right way every day,” he said about last season with the Rams. “I see so many similarities in that here. I think this team has what it takes. We just have to put it all together.”

Asked for specifics, Reeder mentioned the leadership of both teams. He also talked about having a quarterback who can “put up any number of points in any given game” and a defense that “can potentially shut out any team.”

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1852 — The first intercollegiate rowing race is held on Lake Winnipesaukee, N.H., where Harvard beats Yale by four lengths on the 2-mile course.

1949 — The NBA is formed by the merger of the National Basketball League and the Basketball Assn. of America.

1955 — Scott Frost, driven by Joe O’Brien, wins the Hambletonian at Good Time Park in Goshen, N.Y. He goes on to become the first trotting Triple Crown winner.

1985 — France’s Lutin D’Isigny becomes the first trotter to sweep the International Trot and Challenge Cup in consecutive years with a 3:03.1 time in the 1½-mile test.

1990 — The PGA Tour announces it will not hold tournaments at golf clubs that have all-white memberships or show any other signs of discrimination.

1996 — Andre Agassi, the Dream Team and the U.S. women’s 400-meter relay team win Olympic gold medals, while the American men’s 400 relay settles for silver. With Carl Lewis idled by a coach’s decision and Leroy Burrell injured, the men’s 400 team is shocked by Canada — the first time the U.S. lost the event at the Olympics.

2003 — Annika Sorenstam completes a career Grand Slam at the Women’s British Open, beating Se Ri Pak by a stroke in a thrilling head-to-head showdown.

2006 — Champ Car driver Cristiano da Matta needs surgery to remove a ruptured blood vessel in his head after his race car collides with a deer that wandered onto the track during a test session at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

2012 — Michael Phelps rallies to win the 100-meter butterfly for his third gold of the London Games and No. 17 of his career. It’s Phelps’ third consecutive win in the event at the Olympics, and his 21st career medal. Missy Franklin sets a world record in the 200 backstroke for the 17-year-old’s third gold in London.

2013 — Sixteen-year-old Katie Ledecky wraps up a brilliant performance at the world swimming championships with her fourth gold medal and second world record. The youngster turns it on over the final four laps of the 800 freestyle to win in 8 minutes, 13.86 seconds and take down the mark of 8:14.10 set by Britain’s Rebecca Adlington at the 2008 Olympics.

2016 — The International Olympic Committee approves baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding to be included in the 2020 Tokyo Games.

2016 — Elaine Thompson Herah of Jamaica wins the 200m gold in Tokyo to become the first female to win the 100/200 double in consecutive games.

Compiled by the Associated Press

And finally

Gil Hodges vs. Willie Mays in the original “Home Run Derby.” Watch and listen here.