Padres to name Enberg as lead TV voice
TMC
By Jay Posner, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 4:55 p.m.
Dick Enberg will bring cachet to Padres broadcasts.
SAN DIEGO – The Padres will announce Thursday that nationally
acclaimed sportscaster Dick Enberg will be their No. 1 play-by-play TV
voice in 2010.
According to multiple sources, Enberg will work more than 100 games on
Channel 4 San Diego.
A club spokesman said he could not confirm Enberg’s hiring. Craig
Nichols, Channel 4 vice president and general manager, declined to
comment. Enberg, who lives in La Jolla, could not be reached for
comment.
Mark Neely, who replaced Matt Vasgersian as the Padres’ top TV voice
last year, is expected to work the games Enberg does not work. All
indications are that Mark Grant will return for his 14th season as an
analyst.
Enberg, who will be 75 in January, has worked scores of major events,
including several Olympic Games and Super Bowls, plus the 1982 World
Series, but he has not been a local play-by-play baseball announcer
for about a quarter-century. He was the voice of the California Angels
from 1969-78 and then worked one season of TV with the Angels in 1985.
It's expected that Enberg will continue broadcasting Wimbledon and the
U.S. Open, but not the French Open.
Michael T
>
> Mark Neely, who replaced Matt Vasgersian
> as the Padres� top TV voice
> last year, is expected to work the games Enberg
> does not work.
>
Wow. I did not even know the Padres may be less than enthused about Mark
Neely...having effectively demoted him to 2nd string where he will work less
than 1/3 of the TV games.
No problem here. I thought he was boring compared to the ego-driven
Vasgersian.
PBDepot
I think it's the chance to get a pro like Enberg more than anything.
The guy's lived in San Diego for a while I believe, so he shouldn't
have any problem fitting right in. And I'm sure him and Tony G. will
get along beautifully.
Michael T
~~~
I think it's the chance to get a pro like Enberg more than anything.
The guy's lived in San Diego for a while I believe, so he shouldn't
have any problem fitting right in. And I'm sure him and Tony G. will
get along beautifully.
Perhaps you're right.
As a long time fan of Enberg I am really looking forward to his
play-by-play.
TMC
> http://www3.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/02/bn02enberg-joining-pa...
http://www.fangsbites.com/2009/12/oh-my-dick-enberg-becomes-tv-voice-of.html
We found out about this last night and it becomes official today. Dick
Enberg leaves CBS at the end of the season to become the lead TV
announcer for the San Diego Padres.
We now have the official announcement from the Padres:
DICK ENBERG NAMED PADRES TELEVISION PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER
San Diego, CA – The San Diego Padres today announced they have named
Dick Enberg as their television play-by-play announcer. Padres Vice
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Jeff Moorad made the announcement.
Enberg is expected to join the Padres in Spring Training this February
and will call action for the majority of regular-season games on Cox-
owned Channel 4 San Diego while continuing his tennis coverage of
Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
“Dick is a legendary figure in sports and we’re honored to have him as
the newest member of the Padres,” said Moorad. “He is also a long-time
San Diegan and dedicated follower of Padres baseball, making this even
more special for all Padres fans.”
Renowned as one of the great sports broadcasters of all-time, Enberg,
who has worked for CBS Sports for the past 10 years, is currently
serving as a play-by-play voice for their coverage of the NFL, college
basketball and the U.S. Open Tennis Championships as well as ESPN’s
coverage of Wimbledon. He has also contributed to coverage of the
Masters® and PGA Championship broadcasts on CBS Sports.
“Over my many years behind the microphone, my love for baseball has
never waned,” said Enberg. “As a San Diego resident for 26 years, I
have followed the Padres with keen interest and sincerely thank Jeff
Moorad and Tom Garfinkel for the opportunity to broadcast for my
hometown Major League team. I treasure the time I’ve spent calling
baseball and find that it is the most demanding and yet most intimate
sport to broadcast. Baseball is made for good story telling and I
think that is what I’ve always done best.”
“We’re delighted to have Dick Enberg as part of our award-winning team
at Channel 4 San Diego,” said Bill Geppert, Senior Vice President and
General Manager for Cox Communications. “Dick is an iconic TV sports
personality who will bring an exciting dimension to our high-
definition Padres telecasts.”
Enberg began his full-time broadcasting career in 1965 in Los Angeles
as the radio and television voice of the California Angels, UCLA
basketball and the Los Angeles Rams and was named California
Sportscaster of the Year on four occasions.
“Throughout his storied broadcasting career, including the past 10
years with CBS Sports, Dick Enberg has been the ultimate gentleman and
consummate professional. He remains a true legend in every sense of
the word,” said Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. “It is
with a touch of sadness from his family at CBS Sports, but mostly
great joy for Dick that he will be returning to broadcasting one of
his great passions, baseball, with the San Diego Padres. All of us
realize that this truly is an opportunity that he could not pass up
and look forward to finding ways to continue working with Dick.”
One of the most versatile play-by-play announcers in sports
broadcasting history, his résumé includes coverage of 42 NFL seasons,
10 Super Bowls, nine Rose Bowls, six Orange Bowls, four Olympic Games,
six Australian Opens, 23 French Opens, 26 Wimbledons, 10 U.S. Open
Tennis Championships, three Ryder Cups, three MLB playoffs, the World
Series, three heavyweight boxing championships, 14 NCAA Men’s
Basketball Championships, the NBA playoffs and the NBA All-Star Game.
In addition to football, baseball, tennis, golf, basketball and
boxing, Enberg has all called the action for gymnastics, figure
skating, Breeder’s Cup horse racing and track-and-field.
Among his numerous awards and honors, Enberg is the recipient of 14
Emmy Awards, nine Sportscaster of the Year Awards, the Ronald Reagan
Media Award and the Victor Award, recognizing the top sportscaster of
the past 40 years. He is the only person to win National Emmy Awards
as a sportscaster, writer and producer. In February 1998, he became
just the fourth sportscaster to be honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame.
A native of Armada, Mich., and resident of San Diego, Enberg began his
broadcasting career as a student at Central Michigan University, where
he graduated in 1957. He earned a master’s degree (1958) and doctorate
at Indiana University (1962) and has been named a Distinguished
Alumnus by both institutions.
Dick has had a distinguished career having called Super Bowls, NCAA
men's basketball championships, Olympics, golf, tennis as well as the
then-Los Angeles Rams and California Angels. He'll still be seen on
network TV every year during coverage of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open
for ESPN2, but his days of calling the NFL and NCAA basketball for CBS
are over. At least he left CBS on his own terms and will have a nice
cap to his career in calling the Padres.