Vin Scully researched beards and his lecture was brilliant

No one was expecting Vin Scully to mail in his final season in the Los Angeles Dodgers television booth. That's just not his style. But the fact of the matter is, he's actually stepped up his game this season to provide more information, more entertainment and, let's be honest, more energy, than just about any single broadcaster or broadcast team in MLB.

He's like a rookie going above and beyond to prove he belongs. In every broadcast, Scully has provided at least one memorable story or history lesson that had people talking the following day. That trend continued on Saturday as the Dodgers hosted the San Diego Padres.

[Elsewhere: Zac Curtis wears the face of shock after call up from A ball]

On this occasion, Scully had a very special topic in mind: Beards!

Scully gleefully announced during the second inning that he'd been doing his research on the history of beards. His inspiration? We imagine it was the Justin Turner Chia Pet giveaway at Dodger Stadium. Though it could have been Derek Norris' outrageous beard, or Andrew Cashner's. After all, he spent some serious airtime on Cashner's beard last season.

Whatever the case, beards were the subject of Scully's latest lecture, and it made for glorious television. He went on for five minutes, dropping names like Leviticus, Alexander the Great and even Abraham Lincoln. When he said the history of beards, he didn't mean your father or grandfather's beard from the 1970s, he meant the history of beards right back to their origin.

We learned a lot, too.

For example, Scully says Alexander the Great "was not only great, but he also thought he was the greatest looking man in the world. And Alexander the Great said, 'There's no reason to cover up my beautiful face with a beard.' And so, all of a sudden, it started to disappear."

[Elsewhere: Brandon Phillips goes behind-the-back, celebrates by dabbing]

Is everything Scully said actually true? We have no idea, but have no problem rewriting history as Vin Scully sees it, either.

Here's another gem.

We could go on all day quoting excerpts, but it's probably best if you click on the video above and give it your undivided attention. If nothing else, you'll be reminded why Vin Scully is the greatest of all-time.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813