Long-time broadcaster Dick Enberg has announced that the 2016 season as the TV Voice of the San Diego Padres will be his last. Enberg has been calling Padres games dating back to 2010. Earlier this year, he was given the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame for broadcasting excellence making him only one of two people (the other being Curt Gowdy) who have been honored by the Baseball, Pro Football and Basketball Halls of Fame.
Before Thursday’s San Francisco-San Diego game, Enberg made the announcement to the Fox Sports San Diego audience:
“In culminating 60 years of sports broadcasting, it has been a tremendous thrill to be the TV voice of my hometown San Diego Padres, and I’m tremendously excited that I will have a continuing TV role through the 2016 season, an All-Star Game year for San Diego,” said Enberg. “Our family is sincerely grateful to Padres ownership, Ron Fowler and Peter and Tom Seidler, and CEO Mike Dee for providing the opportunity for an extension through 2016. While I have decided that 2016 will be my last as the primary play-by-play announcer, I will always be a Padre, and look forward to a continuing role. Ultimately, with high hopes I’ll be one of the many in line that will someday soon embrace a World Series championship in San Diego.”
Enberg has worked for CBS, NBC and ESPN calling baseball, boxing, NFL, college basketball, golf, horse racing, NBA, Olympics and tennis. He has worked with a multitude of partners including Merlin Olsen, Dan Dierdorf, Dan Fouts, Bill Walsh, Bob Trumpy, Phil Simms, Paul McGuire and John Brodie in the NFL, Bud Collins, John and Patrick McEnroe, Mary Carillo and Mary Jo Fernandez in tennis, Al McGuire, Billy Packer, Bill Walton and Jay Bilas in college basketball and Johnny Miller in golf.
Enberg’s broadcasting career took off in Los Angeles where he called the UCLA Bruins, Los Angeles Rams and California Angels. He joined NBC in 1975 and became the top announcer in the NFL and college basketball replacing Curt Gowdy on both sports. He was in consideration to call Major League Baseball until NBC signed Vin Scully after the 1982 season.
Enberg joined CBS in 2000 to call the NFL and the U.S. Open and stayed until 2011. He joined ESPN in 2004 to call the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon through 2011.
Enberg, Packer and McGuire were considered one of the best broadcasting teams of all-time when they called college basketball on NBC from 1978 through 1981. They called the landmark Indiana State-Michigan State game in 1979. The trio became a duo when Packer left NBC after CBS won the rights to the NCAA Tournament in 1981. Here’s one game they called when Notre Dame upset #1 Virginia in 1981.
In addition, Enberg hosted a number of game shows including Sports Challenge which was syndicated to local stations and Baffled on NBC. Here’s a 1972 edition of Sports Challenge:
Enberg’s resume on big events includes the Super Bowl, The Masters, PGA Championship, NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, Wimbledon, the French Open, the U.S. Open golf and tennis, Breeders’ Cup, Olympics, World Series, Championship Boxing, and so many others.
He’s won 14 national Sports Emmy Awards and has been inducted into the National Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
So in 2016, both Vin Scully and Dick Enberg will be leaving sports broadcasting. And here’s hoping the two can call one Dodgers-Padres game together in the booth before they call it quits next year.
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