On The Radio

A picture on the L.A. Dodgers Facebook page featuring Vin Scully and Dick Enberg, reminded me how much fun it was watching and listening to sports in Los Angeles in the 1970’s. The 70’s were when people still carried transistor radios instead of IPODS.

Vin Scully was and is the king of Baseball announcers. In the 70’s, only about 20 Dodger games would air on TV per season. Radio was how we really bonded with the Dodgers. Vin would paint the pictures with his colorful words creating an excitement that made the listener feel as if he was there sitting next to him. Others have proven that is not so easy to entertain while simply describing a game into a microphone. I have so many childhood memories that include a soundtrack supplied by Vin Scully and the Dodgers. In the car or on a transistor radio, it never felt like Spring had arrived until we would hear Vin say, “It’s time for Dodger Baseball!” for the first time each year.

Dick Enberg was the workhorse for GWB which owned KTLA Channel 5 and KMPC 710. As the longtime voice of the Angels, Rams, UCLA Bruins and Boxing from the Olympic, he was always on the air it seemed. During most of his tenure in SoCal, he had to endure some pretty bad Angel and Ram teams. It was during some of the biggest Angel blowouts, that he would really shine and keep his listeners engaged even though the Angels were losing badly and already eliminated. And it would only be June! His work with Don Drysdale with the Angels and Merlin Olsen with the Rams made for some great radio. He also co-created and hosted a great TV Game Show called “Sports Challenge”. The show had that special quality that made it both corny & cool. It is a shame that Dick Enberg is working for the Padres and not the Angels. I don’t know what they are thinking in Anaheim.

For those of us who loved sports in Southern California, we were blessed with the opportunity to hear Chick Hearn and Bob Miller with the Lakers and Kings. They both became Hall Of Fame announcers and kept fans rooting for some pretty poor teams. Bob and Vin are still behind their mikes but other less memorable voices now fill the Angel and Laker airwaves. The Rams, of course, moved somewhere a while back. I’m not sure where.

I’m thankful for the memories that SoCal’s Sports Golden Throats of the 70’s have left me with. Now, where did I leave my IPOD?