Dick Enberg

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Dick Enberg
Sportscaster
Years active1960–2016
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1963; div. 1973)​
  • Barbara Hedbring
    ​
    (m. 1983)​
Children6
Parent(s)Arnie and Belle Enberg
Sports commentary career
Team(s)
Horse Racing
EmployerNBC Sports (1975–99)
CBS Sports (2000–11, 2014)
ESPN (2004–11)

Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American

California Angels and San Diego Padres
baseball.

Enberg was well known for his signature on-air

Tournament of Roses Parade
for many years, sometimes with the help of family members. Enberg retired from broadcasting in 2016, after seven seasons as the Padres' primary television announcer.

Early life and education

Enberg was born on January 9, 1935, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, as the first child to Belle Elizabeth (Weiss) and Arnie Enberg.[1][2] His paternal grandparents were Finnish immigrants, whose original name was Katajavuori, which means juniper mountain.[1] Before they lived in America, they changed their name to the Swedish-sounding Enberg.[1] His mother was of English, French, German and Native American descent.[3] He had a younger brother, Dennis.[4] Enberg's family first moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he was two years old,[1] then to southern California in 1940[1] for several years, and then back to a farm near Armada, Michigan.[5]

Following high school in Armada, Enberg attended

health sciences.[6][7] While at Indiana, Enberg voiced the first radio broadcast of the Little 500, the bicycle racing event popularized in the film Breaking Away
.

He was also the play-by-play announcer for

championship game between Cincinnati and Ohio State.[8] From 1961 to 1965, he was an assistant professor and baseball coach at Cal State Northridge, then known as San Fernando Valley State College.[7] Enberg was also a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa
fraternity.

Career in Los Angeles

Enberg circa 1969

In the late 1960s, Enberg began a full-time sportscasting career in

Anaheim Stadium and the halo at the top, which would light up for everyone in the area to see, particularly from the adjacent freeway. Enberg was named California Sportscaster of the Year four times during this period.[9]

In the 1960s, Enberg announced boxing matches at L.A.'s Olympic Auditorium. Enberg also presided over the Trophy presentation for Super Bowl VII in 1973.[citation needed]

In 1968, Enberg was recommended by UCLA athletic director J.D. Morgan to be the national broadcaster for the syndicated

Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar).[citation needed
]

In the 1970s, Enberg called the 1979 NCAA Championship game between Michigan State, led by

Emmy Award-winning sports-history series The Way It Was for PBS.[citation needed
]

NBC Sports (1975–1999)

In 1973, Enberg hosted the game show

Baffle, which lasted just a year before being cancelled in 1974. A year later, producer Monty Hall hired Enberg to host the shorter-lived Three for the Money
.

In 1975, Enberg joined

Olympic Games
.

Enberg replaced

ABC took over the broadcast in 1989
.

The NFL on NBC

While on

Super Bowls (alongside such former NFL players Merlin Olsen, Bob Trumpy, Phil Simms, and Paul Maguire), the last being Super Bowl XXXII in January 1998. Enberg also anchored NBC's coverage of Super Bowl XIII (called by Curt Gowdy) in 1979. He also called three Canadian Football League games in 1982 during the NFL strike.[10]

Among the notable games called by Enberg was the 1986 Week 3 51–45 shootout between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins and the 1987 AFC Championship Game between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns.

Well, and so the end of the

won. The 13 years of defeat have been erased at least for tonight as Denver wins it, 31-24. Don't wander away, more to come from San Diego. Greg Gumbel will be back after station identification. Denver Broncos are Super Bowl champs.

— Dick Enberg at the end of Super Bowl XXXII, NBC's final NFL telecast until the 2006 season
.

Major League Baseball on NBC

In 1977, Enberg provided play-by-play for Game 2 of the American League Championship Series and Game 4 of the National League Championship Series Series alongside Don Drysdale. Two years later, Enberg teamed with Wes Parker and Sparky Anderson[11] to call the ALCS for NBC. And then in 1981, Enberg alongside Tom Seaver, called the National League Division Series between the Montreal Expos and Philadelphia Phillies and then, the NLCS between Montreal and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to his autobiography, Oh My!,

Sporting News to make sure he was current with all the baseball news and notes. Then he met with NBC executives in September 1982, and they informed him that Vin Scully was in negotiations to be their lead baseball play-by-play man (teaming with Garagiola while Kubek would team with Bob Costas) and would begin with the network in the spring of 1983
.

According to the book, Enberg wasn't pleased about the decision (since he loved being the California Angels' radio and television voice in the 1970s and was eager to return to baseball) but the fact that NBC was bringing in Scully, arguably baseball's best announcer, was understandable. Enberg added that NBC also gave him a significant pay increase as a pseudo-apology for not coming through on the promise to make him the lead baseball play-by-play man. Enberg returned to the Angels' radio booth to call 40 games in 1985, citing a desire to reconnect with the sport, which he has described as having been "in my DNA since I was in diapers".[13]

Enberg hosted NBC's pregame shows of the 1985 National League Championship Series with Joe Morgan. It was Enberg who broke the news to most of the nation that Vince Coleman was injured before Game 4. NBC even aired an interview with one of the few people who actually saw the incident, a Dodger batboy. Enberg was also in Toronto[14] to do the pregame for Games 1 and 7 of the 1985 American League Championship Series alongside Rick Dempsey[15] (who was still active with Baltimore at the time).

NBC planned to use Enberg as one of its announcers for The Baseball Network coverage in 1994,[16][17] but the players' strike that year ended the season before he had the opportunity to call any games.

Wimbledon Championships

As NBC's voice of the

Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the last tournament for him being in 1999 (alongside Bud Collins and, later, John McEnroe
), Enberg regularly concluded the network's coverage of the two-week event with thematically appropriate observations accompanied by a montage of video clips.

CBS Sports (2000–2014)

Enberg was hired by

US Open Tennis coverage. For several years he also contributed to CBS's coverage of The Masters and PGA Championship
golf as an interviewer and essayist.

Enberg during his tenure at CBS, was notably on the call[18] alongside Dan Dierdorf for an NFL game between the New England Patriots and New York Jets on September 23, 2001. It was during this game that New York linebacker Mo Lewis injured the Patriots' starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Bledsoe's injury resulted in Tom Brady becoming New England's quarterback, beginning the Brady–Belichick era for the Patriots that saw them enjoy nearly two decades of dominance and win six Super Bowl titles. As a result, Lewis' hit on Bledsoe is often noted for its impact on NFL history.[19][20]

One of the more notable games Enberg also called was the 2005 AFC Divisional matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts that saw the Steelers go on to upset the Colts 21-18 en route to their victory in Super Bowl XL in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Coincidentally, Enberg also called a previous playoff game between the two teams for NBC, the 1995 AFC Championship Game, a 20-16 Steelers victory that is often marked as one of the NFL's greatest games.

Another enduring element of Enberg's broadcasting legacy was his ability to provide warm and poignant reflections on the sporting events he covered. Enberg Essays, as they came to be known, were a regular feature of CBS's coverage of college basketball's

Final Four
.

On March 27, 2010, Enberg called his final college basketball game for CBS, an East Regional tournament final featuring the Kentucky Wildcats versus the West Virginia Mountaineers.[21] After becoming the Padres' play-by-play announcer, Enberg said he hoped to continue calling late-season NFL games for CBS, but his name was omitted from the network's announcing roster for 2010.[22] He continued to call the US Open for CBS through 2011.

Enberg returned to call one match and serve as an essayist during the 2014 US Open, to help commemorate CBS's last year covering the event before ESPN took over in 2015.[23]

On September 14, 2009, Juan Martín del Potro defeated Roger Federer to win the Men's US Open Championship. Enberg hosted the post-match ceremony during which del Potro requested to address his fans in Spanish. Enberg declined the request saying that he was running out of time but went on to list the corporate sponsored prizes del Potro won.[24] A couple of minutes later, Del Potro made the same request again and only then Enberg relented saying "Very quickly, in Spanish, he wants to say hello to his friends here and in Argentina". An emotional del Potro finally spoke a few sentences in Spanish to a cheering crowd. Many viewers expressed disappointment with Enberg and CBS over the interview.[24] A CBS executive later defended Enberg, noting that the contract with the United States Tennis Association required that certain sponsors receive time during the ceremony.[25]

ESPN (2004–2011)

Beginning in 2004, Enberg served as a play-by-play announcer for

2009. At the 2004 French Open, Enberg called a match per day and also provided his "Enberg Moments". At Wimbledon in 2004, he participated in a new one-hour morning show called Breakfast at Wimbledon. ESPN asked CBS for permission to use Enberg during the summer of 2004 at both the French Open and Wimbledon. Enberg then surprised his new bosses by volunteering for the 2005 Australian Open in January 2005. "I've never been to Australia," he said. "At my age then [69], to be able to work a full Grand Slam is something I'd like to have at the back of my book." Enberg stopped calling the French Open after 2009 due to his Padres commitments, though he continued to call the Wimbledon and Australian Open tournaments over the next two years. In June 2011, it was reported that his ESPN contract had ended and that the 2011 Wimbledon tournament would be his final one for the network.[26]

San Diego Padres

In December 2009, Enberg was hired as a television play-by-play announcer by the

Mark Grant
on the Padres' telecasts.

In his debut season as a Padres broadcaster, Enberg took some criticism from fans over a perceived lack of enthusiasm for the home team. Told that he was regarded by some viewers as getting "too excited" over plays by opposing players, Enberg responded, "I find that a real compliment."[28] He did move to placate the critics, however, by limiting the use of his signature home run call of "Touch 'em all!" to Padres home runs.[29]

In

Fox Sports San Diego, in the first year of a 20-year deal between the team and the newly formed network. On September 23, 2015, Enberg indicated he would call Padres games for one more season in 2016, then retire.[30]

On May 21, 2016, Enberg served as a special guest play-by-play broadcaster for the

Fox Sports Detroit alongside analyst Kirk Gibson. The Tigers were Enberg's boyhood team, as he lived in the Detroit area.[31]
Enberg also called a weekend series for the Tigers post retirement, an interleague series between the Tigers and the Dodgers, August 18–20, 2017 for FSD and one game for FS1.

Enberg's last game with the Padres was October 2, 2016. In his last week on air, he made a guest appearance with Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully, who also was retiring at the end of the baseball season, after a 67-year career.[32]

Other appearances

In

In Focus on FSN. For Fox Sports Net, he called his final college basketball game on November 11, 2012, aboard the USS Midway alongside Steve Kerr.[33]

In addition to his career in sports broadcasting, Enberg hosted three game shows besides the aforementioned Sports Challenge: The Perfect Match in 1967,

Baffle on NBC from 1973 through 1974, and Three for the Money on NBC in 1975. He also lent his voice to the animated CBS cartoon series Where's Huddles? (1970), the film Rollerball (1975), and the American-dubbed version of the animated UK Christmas special Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire (2002); made appearances in the films Two-Minute Warning (1976), Gus (1976), Heaven Can Wait (1978), The Longshot (1986), The Naked Gun (1988), and Mr. 3000 (2004); and appeared as himself in episodes of such television programs as The King of Queens and CSI: NY. In addition, Enberg was seen in a series of commercials for GTE during the 1980s and early 1990s, and was the voice of the announcer in the classic Talking Football tabletop game from Mattel
.

Film roles

Career timeline

Honors

Enberg garnered many awards and honors over the years, including 13

National Baseball Hall of Fame, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Enberg is the only sportscaster thus far to win Emmys in three categories (broadcasting, writing, and producing), and in 1973 became the first U.S. sportscaster to visit the People's Republic of China
.

Enberg was inducted into Central Michigan University's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.[36] The university named an academic center for him in 2007. A student-athlete award in Enberg's name is presented annually to a Central Michigan student.[36]

Enberg was raised in Armada, Michigan and was responsible for the naming of the Armada High School yearbook, the Regit (Tiger spelled backwards), a name it has to this day. A hallway in the Macomb Academy of Arts and Sciences, which is run by Armada school district and shares the building with its administration office, was named after him.

UCLA named its Media Center in Pauley Pavilion after Enberg in 2017 in his honor.

Indiana University awarded Enberg an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2002. He would be inducted into the Indiana University Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in the fall of 2006.

Enberg also received honorary doctorates of humane letters from his alma mater Central Michigan University in 1980 and Marquette University in 2009, and gave the addresses at both universities' May commencement ceremonies.

In 1997, the

The Dick Enberg Award is given annually to a person whose actions and commitment have furthered the meaning and reach of the Academic All-America Teams Program and/or the student-athlete while promoting the values of education and academics. Past recipients include Gerald Ford, Mike Krzyzewski, Pat Summitt, and Joe Paterno. Enberg continued to be an avid supporter of the program, often lending his voice to video presentations related to CoSIDA's annual Academic All-America Hall of Fame ceremony.[37]

In 2006, Enberg was Awarded the Ambassador Award of Excellence by the LA Sports & Entertainment Commission for his involvement in the community.[38]

For his contributions to the Rose Bowl game and parade through the years, Enberg was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on December 31, 2011.[39]

The

National Baseball Hall of Fame named Enberg the 2015 recipient of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting. He was presented with the award in a ceremony during the Hall's induction weekend on July 25, 2015.[40] Enberg was the second American sportscaster (after Curt Gowdy
) to be selected for broadcasting awards from each of the Halls of Fame in professional football, basketball and baseball.

On August 20, 2017, the Detroit Sports Media (formerly Detroit Sports Broadcasters Association) named Enberg the 2017 recipient of the DSM Ernie Harwell Lifetime Contribution Award for a lifetime of service to the sports broadcasting community.

Personal life

Although Enberg was Finnish on his paternal side, his surname was of

Swedish origin.[41] During an ESPN television broadcast from the Wimbledon tennis championships on June 24, 2010, Enberg said his father was born in Finland, and changed his name from the Finnish "Katajavuori" to the Swedish equivalent Enberg on arrival in the U.S. as he felt it would be a simpler name. The surname means "juniper mountain." Enberg said it pleased him that Jarkko Nieminen
was doing so well as Finland is close to his heart and it is a small nation with few tennis facilities.

While working at Saginaw, Michigan radio station

Jewish-sounding.[42]
The story of his surname is also detailed in his autobiography, Oh My!

Enberg was the father of actor Alexander Enberg, actor-musician Andrew Enberg, and daughter Jennifer Enberg by former wife Jeri Taylor. At the time of his death, he was married to his second wife, Barbara (née Almori), with whom he had one son, Ted Enberg (also a sportscaster), and two daughters, Nicole and Emily.

Ted Enberg is a play-by-play broadcaster for ESPN,

PodcastOne entitled, Sound of Success. He is married to Sara Elizabeth Miller. Ted would ultimately portray his father in the 2022 HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty.[43]

Enberg penned a one-man theatrical play titled COACH, as a tribute to his former television broadcast partner and late friend,

1977 NCAA Championship in Atlanta) and former UCLA All-American center Bill Walton. The play was then performed at Hofstra University, near Al's old neighborhood on Long Island in New York. It has since been booked in San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Portland, Maine, North Carolina and Indiana. The most recent performance was at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan. Actor Cotter Smith
portrayed McGuire in the one-man show.

Enberg served as Chairman of the American Sportscasters Association from 1983 until 2017. He was also a Board Member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott and is given annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.

Death

Enberg died on December 21, 2017, in La Jolla, California, from a suspected heart attack. He was 82.[13][44]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Enberg 2012, p. 4.
  2. ^ Sandomir, Richard (December 22, 2017). "Dick Enberg, Veteran Sportscaster, Is Dead at 82". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Enberg 2012, p. 10.
  4. ^ "Dennis Enberg in the 1940 Census". Archives 1940 U.S. Census.
  5. ^ Kupper, Mike (December 21, 2017). "Sportscaster Dick Enberg — voice of baseball, football, tennis and more — found dead at his La Jolla home at 82". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ^ Hoffarth, Tom (September 26, 2016). "Dick Enberg saying farewell to baseball, embraces next creative challenge". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Shaikin, Bill (September 10, 2016). "Dick Enberg is rounding third and heading home after a glorious career". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  8. ^ Pete Dougherty (March 11, 2010). "Few appreciate NCAA's growth as much as Enberg". timesunion.com.
  9. ^ "1996 – Dick Enberg". National Sports Media Association. April 11, 2011. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  10. ^ "CFL-NBC". Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved October 27, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. ^ Dozer, Richard (October 10, 1979). "CBS upsets Pirate, Oriole broadcasters". Chicago Tribune. p. D2.
  12. ^ Enberg 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Enberg dies at age 82". ESPN. December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  14. ^ Goodwin, Michael (October 15, 1985). "TV SPORTS; SCULLY'S TEAM THE WINNER IN PLAYOFFS". The New York Times.
  15. ^ Stewart, Larry (October 4, 1985). "NBC's Bob Costas: an Ordinary Guy on Way to Stardom". Los Angeles Times.
  16. ^ Nelson, John (March 26, 1994). "Networks try to convince baseball fans that less is more". The Free Lance-Star.
  17. ^ John Nelson (July 9, 1995). "ABC's All-Star Telecast Is Beginning of End For Tbn -- But Baseball Wants New Pact By 1 November". The Seattle Times.
  18. ISBN 9781982134105
    .
  19. Sporting News
    . Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  20. ^ Moriello, John (May 11, 2020). "One Hit by Mo Lewis Led to Tom Brady's Big Break and Changed NFL History". Sportscasting. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
  21. ^ Tipton, Jerry (March 28, 2010). "UK notes: Enberg's last call was the Cats CBS Broadcaster is leaving to take Job with Padres". kentucky.com.
  22. ^ "CBS Sports Unveils Its 2010 NFL Announcing Lineup". Fang's Bytes. August 24, 2010. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  23. ^ Yoder, Matt (August 22, 2014). "Dick Enberg will call one last US Open tennis match". Awful Announcing. Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  24. ^ a b "Can I Speak in Spanish?". Straight Sets. The New York Times. September 15, 2009. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
  25. ^ Zinser, Lynn (September 15, 2009). "CBS Defends Enberg in Trophy Ceremony Backlash". The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2009.
  26. ^ Hiestand, Michael (June 21, 2011). "Dick Enberg says farewell to Wimbledon after 28 fortnights". USA Today.
  27. ^ Brock, Corey (December 3, 2009). "Enberg on board as Padres TV voice". MLB.com.
  28. ^ Posner, Jay (May 28, 2010). "Enberg favors Padres, but he's no homer". The San Diego Union-Tribune.
  29. ^ Witz, Billy (August 8, 2010). "Enberg Embraces The Echoes Of His Past". The New York Times.
  30. ^ Padres broadcaster Dick Enberg announces retirement following 2016 season Fox Sports, September 23, 2015
  31. ^ "Dick Enberg, Monroe also part of Detroit Tigers' TV rotation on FSD". Detroit Free Press. March 14, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  32. ^ "Even Vin Scully knows Dick Enberg's farewell deserves its own recognition | MLB". Sporting News. October 1, 2016. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  33. ^ "SDSU 'blown' away by Syracuse on Midway". The San Diego Union-Tribune. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  34. ^ "NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, Fantasy Sports News – CBSSports.com Live Scores, Stats, Schedules". Archived from the original on July 27, 2008.
  35. ^ "ASA's Top 50 Sportscasters of All Time". Americansportscastersonline.com. November 10, 2014. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  36. ^ a b Lozon, Von (November 16, 2016). "CMU alumnus Dick Enberg speaks to students before football game". Central Michigan Life. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  37. ^ Awards cosida.com
  38. ^ "News". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
  39. ^ Ron Dayne, Dick Enberg and George Fleming to be Inducted into Rose Bowl Hall of Fame Archived December 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Tournament of Roses Association, December 4, 2011
  40. ^ Bloom, Barry M. (December 10, 2014). "Oh, my! Enberg wins Hall of Fame's Frick Award". MLB.com. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  41. ^ "Enberg Family History". ancestry.com. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  42. ISBN 1-58261-824-0
    .
  43. ^ Goldstein, Paul (March 6, 2022). "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Recap: It's Showtime!". Vulture.
  44. ^ Miler, Bryce (December 21, 2017). "Dick Enberg, broadcast legend, dies at 82". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved December 22, 2017.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dick Enberg.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
1981
 Succeeded by
Preceded by NFL on NBC lead play-by-play
1979–1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by World Series network television play-by-play announcer
(with Joe Garagiola)
1982 		Succeeded by
Al Michaels (odd numbered years)
Vin Scully (even numbered years)
Preceded by Play-by-play announcer, Rose Bowl
1980–1988 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Super Bowl television
play-by-play announcer (AFC package carrier)
1980–1997 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lead play-by-play announcer,
Major League Baseball on NBC
1982 (alternating with Joe Garagiola) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lead play-by-play announcer,
Major League Baseball Game of the Week
1982 (alternating with Joe Garagiola) 		Succeeded by
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