LOS ANGELES -- Following his final semester as a professor and a coach at Cal State Northridge, Dick Enberg joined KTLA in Los Angeles as the sports announcer on the local news. Half a century later, the Hall of Famer's voice is still emanating from a Los Angeles broadcast booth.
Enberg returned to Dodger Stadium on Friday night, where he is slated to call his final series in the city where he got his start as a professional broadcaster.
In the fall of 1965 Enberg joined KTLA Channel 5, and soon enough, he was calling boxing at the Olympic Auditorium. He expanded that repertoire to include the California Angels, Los Angeles Rams football and UCLA basketball (not to mention Los Angeles Blades Hockey).
Eventually, of course, Enberg went on to a national career with NBC and CBS, calling the NFL, NCAA basketball, tennis, baseball and college football -- among other sports.
"A lot of things have fallen into place in a privileged life," Enberg said of his humble beginnings in Los Angeles. "You had to be there to take advantage of it. But I think about all the intersections in my life, and I think, I very easily could have taken a left, when life was telling me, 'go right.'"
Enberg -- who has called Padres games since 2012 and was honored by the Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award in 2015 -- is slated to retire after the season.
Although, that's not exactly how he'd term it.
"I abhor the term retire," Enberg said. "I'm not retiring. As Junior Seau said, I'm graduating."
The author of two books already, Enberg has another in the works, chronicling his greatest moments. The book is tentatively named "Touch 'Em All" -- an apt title, given that it's his signature home run call, and that the book will cover moments from all the sports he's ever covered.
Enberg -- once a professor at Indiana University in addition to Cal State Northridge -- says he also has designs on potentially teaching again, adding, "I love the challenge of a raised hand."
But Enberg says he has no plans to leave baseball entirely. It's his first love among sports, after all. He's had discussions of continuing with the Padres and FOX Sports in a smaller capacity -- potentially continuing his series "Cup of Coffee with Dick Enberg," where he chats informally with Padres players.
Along with Enberg's final series in Los Angeles, this weekend also marks the final time he'll call games opposite legendary Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully, who is also set to retire after the season. Scully's impact has never been lost on Enberg.
"He's the poet laureate of our profession," Enberg said of Scully. "His longevity is beyond remarkable, and the fact that he continues to display a live fastball and a crackling curve is truly astonishing."
News and notes
• Jon Jay took on-field batting practice Friday and will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Advanced Lake Elsinore on Saturday.
The Storm have three games remaining this season, and Jay is slated to play in all three -- serving as the designated hitter in the middle game.
Jay has been out since June with a broken bone in his right forearm, and in his absence, Travis Jankowski has assumed the everyday center-field job. When Jay returns, it'll be in a hybrid outfielder role at all three spots.
• Speaking of Lake Elsinore, the Padres and their California League affiliate announced that they have extended their player-development contract -- which began in 2001 -- through the '18 season.
• On Tuesday, the Padres will commemorate Childhood Cancer Awareness month by hosting and honoring local families who have been affected by pediatric cancer. Dr. Laura Goetz, a Scripps surgeon with expertise in caring for cancer patients, will be honored before the game.