I don't know how often this happens in broadcasting, but Dick Enberg just stole someone's job. The Padres organization has decided to replace current play by play announcer Mark Neely with the legendary Dick Enberg. Via the SD Tribune....

“I’ve made this decision, basically, because I love the game,” he said yesterday at a Petco Park news conference. “And here’s an opportunity at this stage of my career that I didn’t think was possible. … What better opportunity for any announcer, or anyone who loves the game, than to be able to work in his own hometown.”

Enberg, who called games for the California Angels from 1969-78 and again in 1985, has lived in San Diego “half my adult life” and said he’s been a Padres fan all that time. Even though he hasn’t been working games, he said he’s been watching and following the sport, and while it’s easy to wonder (as I have) whether his absence will hurt, he doesn’t see it that way.

“I think that’s going to be the fun of it all,” he said. “The joy here is going to be I’ve got all this time to be able to prepare. … That’s going to be actually not a negative, but a positive, that I do have to come back up to speed.”

Enberg also addressed the thought that his mistake count has increased in recent years.

“Some people are saying, ’Well, wait a minute, Enberg’s gotten old, he’s got some age on him.’ I still think that I’ve got my fastball,” he said. “I may not locate it as well as I used to, but I think the experiences that I’ve had as a broadcaster will more than compensate for that. … I’m not going to embarrass anyone.”