Padres broadcaster Dick Enberg announces retirement following 2016 season
SAN DIEGO -- Legendary television broadcaster Dick Enberg today announced his plans to return to the FOX Sports San Diego booth in 2016 for his seventh, and final, season as the primary play-by-play television host of Padres baseball. Enberg said on-air during the Padres telecast this evening that he will retire following the 2016 season.
"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."
In July, Enberg received the Baseball Hall of Fame's 2015 Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence, making him one of only two individuals to have earned entry into each of the Baseball, Football (Rozelle Award) and Basketball (Gowdy Award) Halls of Fame.
"Inarguably, Dick is the greatest storyteller the sports world has ever known, and we have been fortunate to have heard his legendary voice and signature calls on our Padres telecasts since 2010," said Padres President and CEO Mike Dee. "We look forward to his return in 2016, and know that after seven seasons in the booth at Petco Park, Dick will forever be part of the Padres family."
Renowned as one of the greatest sports broadcasters of all time, Enberg worked for CBS Sports for 11 years prior to joining the Padres, most recently serving as a play-by-play voice for the network's coverage of the NFL, college basketball and the U.S. Open Tennis Championship. He also contributed to coverage of the Masters® and PGA Championship broadcasts on CBS Sports.
Prior to CBS, Enberg spent 25 years at NBC Sports, covering countless major events, including the memorable 1979 Michigan St.-Indiana St. game. He 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.
Enberg also has been inducted into the National Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame and the National Sportscaster and Sportswriters Hall of Fame, as well as the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. The many accolades Enberg has received for his work include 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.
Enberg holds the distinction of being the only person to win National Emmy awards as a sportscaster, a writer and a producer, and in 2000, he received the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Emmy award. In February 1998, he became just the fourth sportscaster to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
(H/t San Diego Padres)
