Vin Scully’s wife dies of ALS complications

LOS ANGELES — Sandra Scully, wife of Los Angeles Dodgers’ Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully, has died from complications of ALS. She was 76.

The team said Monday that Sandra Scully died Sunday night at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. She had been fighting ALS, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, for the last several years. The progressive nervous system disease affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control.

“She is really inspirational,” Vin Scully told The Associated Press last August. “Her faith is extremely important and I think that’s a major reason she’s held up.”

Scully said he found it “ironic” that his wife had the same condition as Gehrig, the New York Yankees great who was forced to retire in 1939 because of the disease. There is no cure.

In September, Scully auctioned off years of his personal memorabilia, which raised over $2 million. He and his wife of 47 years donated a portion of the money to UCLA for ALS research.

Born Sandra Hunt on Dec. 27, 1944, in Cascade, Virginia, she married Vin Scully in November 1973. The couple had one daughter, Catherine, together. She had two children of her own from a previous marriage and he had three children with his first wife, who died of an accidental overdose in 1972.

Sandra Scully frequently accompanied her husband when he broadcast games at Dodger Stadium. Scully’s 67-year run with the Dodgers ended with his retirement in 2016. She was in the booth for his final home game on Sept. 27. He waved to the cheering crowd as his wife stood and smiled next to him. Scully turned 93 in November.

Sandra Scully had 21 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

The family suggests donations may be made to the Department of Neuromuscular Disease at UCLA/ALS Research.