Dick Enberg — a Southern California great — passes away

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 29: San Diego Padres announcer Dick Enberg waves to the crowd during a ceremony held before a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at PETCO Park on September 29, 2016 in San Diego, California. The Padres held the pre-game ceremony to honor Enberg's last home game as the team's primary play-by-play man for television broadcasts. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 29: San Diego Padres announcer Dick Enberg waves to the crowd during a ceremony held before a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at PETCO Park on September 29, 2016 in San Diego, California. The Padres held the pre-game ceremony to honor Enberg's last home game as the team's primary play-by-play man for television broadcasts. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Dick Enberg will be missed dearly by all Los Angeles sports fans.

Friday morning news reports announced that one of the all-time great sports announcers Dick Enberg had passed away of a heart attack at the age of 82. The news of Enberg’s passing brought in a stream of praise from all over the sports world. He was praised for his versatility during his career as a national announcer, starting in 1973 Enberg called the sports world greatest events including multiple Super Bowls, Wimbledon, NCAA Basketball tournaments, and the World Series.

For fans of a certain age like myself, hearing Enberg’s genial voice exclaim “Oh my!”whenever there was a great play was very common on may a sports day. But for an older generation, Enberg was part of a great group of local announcers in Southern California.

Starting in the late 1960’s, if you turned on your radio to listen to sports you heard three voices across the landscape. For Dodgers basebal, it was Vin Scully. For Lakers basketball, it was Chick Hearn.

And seemingly for everything else, it was Dick Enberg.

More from LA Sports Hub

From 1966 until 1978, Enberg could be heard at some point calling Angels baseball, UCLA basketball, or Rams football. Enberg also called boxing matches at the old Olympic Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles.

Even when Enberg was hired by NBC in 1975, he maintained his duties for some time with each team.

With UCLA basketball, Enberg’s voice became synonymous with it’s greatness, as their ascendancy with the great John Wooden at the helm was broadcast by Enberg.

In all, Enberg would call eight of the 10 titles that UCLA won in the era. Enberg there for college basketball’s first national showcase game when he called the “Game of the Century” — a nationally televised game between the #1 UCLA Bruins and the #2 Houston Cougars at the Houston Astrodome in 1968.

Enberg maintained his connection with the Angels even after becoming a national broadcaster, his call after Angels wins “And the halo shines tonight,” remains a common refrain till this day. Enberg was so connected to the Angels that when original owner Gene Autry passed away in 1998 it was Enberg who eulogized the “Old Cowboy” at this public memorial, an event where this writer got to meet Enberg face to face.

Ever friendly and affable Enberg was just as genial in person as he came across on television,giving up some of his time on a difficult day to me a fan.

Enberg never gave up his Southern California roots returning to be a play by play man for the San Diego Padres in 2010 until his retirement in 2016. He also set up a scholarship at Cal State Northridge where he served as an assistant professor and coached baseball between 1961-1965.

Next: 3 Moves To Make After Acquiring Matt Kemp

To a generation he was a national voice, to another he was the voice of Southern California’s great triumvirate of Scully, Hearn, and Enberg. Dick Enberg will be missed but always remembered.