Dick Enberg participates in the Museum’s Voices of the Game program. (Milo Stewart, Jr. / National Baseball Hall of Fame) The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has announced Dick Enberg as its 2015 pick for the Ford C. Frick Award. Enberg’s broadcasting career has already spanned six decades. He will be recognized during the Hall of Fame Awards Presentation July 25.
Enberg began his career as an undergraduate at Central Michigan University and later broadcast both football and basketball games at Indiana University, where he earned a doctorate.
Enberg called California Angels games from 1968 to 78. He also called games for the Los Angeles Rams and UCLA men’s basketball team and joined NBC Sports in 1975, remaining with the network for 25 years while working assignments that included the MLB Postseason, World Series, Wimbledon, college football and the NFL.
He called the 1982 World Series featuring the Cardinals and the Brewers, and later returned to the Angels’ broadcast team in 1985. After moving to CBS Sports in 2000, Enberg covered football, tennis, basketball and golf before joining the Padres as their TV play-by-play voice in 2010.
“Dick Enberg’s unmistakable voice and remarkable enthusiasm for the national pastime during the Living Room Era as voice of the California Angels from 1968-78 propelled his broadcast career in to the national limelight, as his baseball foundation became a launching pad for other sports and national assignments,” stated Jeff Idelson, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “In the years since, his assignments with NBC Sports and now the San Diego Padres, his passion for the games — and for the fans who follow them through his friendly-and-ardent style — have made him one of sport’s most recognizable voices.”
Enberg was chosen from a list of 10 finalists, featuring three fan selections from an online vote and seven broadcasters chosen by a research committee from the museum. Voters were asked to base selections on longevity; continuity with a club; honors; and popularity with fans. To be considered, a broadcaster must also have a minimum of 10 years of continuous major league broadcast service with a ball club, network or a combination of the two.
The award is named in memory of the sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and baseball commissioner.
The 2014 winner was Eric Nadel.
