Dick Enberg

Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including NBC (1975–1999), CBS (2000–2014), and ESPN (2004–2011), as well as for individual teams, such as UCLA Bruins basketball, Los Angeles Rams football, and California Angels and San Diego Padres baseball. Enberg was well known for his signature on-air catchphrases "Touch 'em all" (for home runs) and "Oh, my!" (for particularly exciting and outstanding athletic plays). He also announced or hosted the 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. His paternal grandparents were Finnish immigrants, whose original name was Katajavuori, which means juniper mountain. Before they lived in America, they changed their name to the Swedish-sounding Enberg. His mother was of English, French, German and Native American descent. He had a younger brother, Dennis. Enberg's family first moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, when he was two years old, then to southern California in 1940 for several years, and then back to a farm near Armada, Michigan. Following high school in Armada, Enberg attended Central Michigan University, where he played college baseball and earned a bachelor's degree in 1957. In his senior year at Central Michigan, Enberg was elected president of the student body. During this time, he was employed at WSAM in Saginaw, Michigan, then a Detroit Tigers radio affiliate. Enberg then went on to graduate school at Indiana University Bloomington, where he earned master's and doctorate degrees in health sciences. While at Indiana, Enberg voiced the first radio broadcast of the Little 500, the bicycle racing event popularized in the film Breaking Away.