Oh my! Enberg tops Cubs’ Quinlan for Hall’s Frick Award

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Dick Enberg has won the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting, edging out former Cubs broadcaster Jack Quinlan.

Baseball’s Hall of Fame made the announcement on Wednesday at the winter meetings.

Enberg has been calling Major League Baseball games in Southern California for nearly 20 seasons, split by stints as one of the most recognizable voices on NBC and CBS.

“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 into the national limelight, as his baseball foundation became a launching pad for other sports and national assignments,” Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson said. “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, who will be 80 next month, is the 39th winner of the Frick Award. He will be honored during the Hall of Fame awards presentation on July 25 in Cooperstown, New York.

Quinlan began doing Cubs broadcasts for WIND-AM from 1955-56, then moved to WGN Radio from 1957-64, partnering with Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau and Charlie Grimm.

Quinlan was killed in an auto accident after leaving a golf outing during spring training in 1965.

Famed for his call of “Oh my!” Enberg was the voice of the California Angels from 1968-78 before shifting to commentating on a national level. He returned to baseball with the San Diego Padres in 2010.

The other finalists were Quinlan, Richie Ashburn, Billy Berroa, Rene Cardenas, Dizzy Dean, Ernie Johnson Sr., Ralph Kiner, Ned Martin and Joe Nuxhall. Enberg was among three fan selections, along with Kiner and Quinlan, in an Internet vote this year. The other seven were chosen by a Hall of Fame research committee. Cardenas and Enberg were the only two living candidates.