Listen: Vin Scully finds out he’ll get Presidential Medal of Freedom

The news came out Wednesday that just-retired Los Angeles Dodgers’ announcer Vin Scully is one of this year’s 21 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (along with other sports figures like Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and plenty of other notables including Lorne Michaels and Bruce Springsteen), the highest civilian award in the United States. What’s even better than the news itself, though, is this outstanding video of White House press secretary Josh Earnest calling Scully to give him the news:

Gotta love #VIN. Here's @WhiteHouse @PressSec calling Vin Scully to let him know he's a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. pic.twitter.com/uvoks5tAR1

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) November 16, 2016

Scully’s reaction is disbelief at first: “Oh my gosh, no! Are you sure? I’m just an old baseball announcer.” Earnest responds with “You’ve had a remarkable impact on the lives of generations of sports fans in this country, and you’ve brought a decency and a professionalism to this job that hasn’t just captured the attention of generations of Americans, it’s captured the attention of the President of the United States.” Scully then responds with “I’m rather overwhelmed and humbled.”

This is neat to see this kind of honor for Scully. It’s only one of the many awards and ceremonies he received this year, but it’s a highly important one, and one that recognizes the amazing broadcasting career and impact he had. It’s also really cool to get a window into how Scully got the news and how he reacted. Congratulations to him on an outstanding career.

[@Dodgers on Twitter]