Jerry Coleman, who began his career in professional baseball 70 years ago as a Yankees minor leaguer in 1942, is celebrating his 40th season as the radio voice of the Padres, still stirring fans with his patented "Oh Doctor!" and "Hang a Star!" calls, signatures of Padres broadcasts.
Coleman has previously served as a broadcaster for the New York Yankees. He also called CBS Radio Network's "Game of the Week" for 22 seasons.
He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He is enshrined in the U.S. Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame and in 2005, he received the prestigious Ford C. Frick Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was elected to the Padres Hall of Fame in 2001.
As a player, Coleman made his Big League debut in 1949, earning Rookie of the Year honors from the Associated Press. He played nine seasons as second baseman with the Yankees (1949-57) and played on six World Series clubs. In 1950, Coleman was named an American League All-Star and World Series MVP, as the Yankees swept the Phillies in four games.
His playing career was interrupted twice when he was called upon to serve his country as a Marine pilot in World War II and in the Korean War.
Coleman holds the distinction of being the only Major League player to see active combat in two wars. His military service record includes 120 missions, earning him two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals and three Navy citations. He retired from the United States Marine Corps at the rank of lieutenant colonel.
He retired with a lifetime .263 average, 16 homers and 217 RBI in 723 games. In 1980, he served as manager of the Padres.
Coleman and his wife, Maggie, reside in La Jolla.
2012 marks Ted Leitner's 33rd season behind the microphone for "My Padres," and his 32nd consecutive season working alongside Jerry Coleman in the broadcast booth.
Now in his 35th year broadcasting in San Diego, Leitner is also the voice of San Diego State University Aztecs football and basketball.
Leitner spent 25 years (1978-2002) as sports anchor for KFMB-TV (CBS 8) in San Diego.
Leitner's previous play-by-play credits include the National Football League's San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, the National Basketball Association's San Diego Clippers, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Connecticut.
Leitner studied TV and radio broadcasting at Oklahoma State University and earned his Master's degree in communications from the University of Oklahoma in Norman.
A fixture in the San Diego community, he has served as master of ceremonies at several Padres events over the years, including Opening Day ceremonies, the club's Annual Awards Dinner, shareholders events and the First Pitch Luncheon.
Leitner has six sons, twins Nicholas and Ryan, Mark, Matthew, Jordan and Teddy, and one daughter, Kristin.
Andy Masur enters his sixth season with the Padres' radio broadcast team, after spending eight seasons with WGN Radio in Chicago (1999-2006).
Prior to arriving in San Diego, Masur was a play-by-play voice and a pre- and post-game host for Chicago Cubs radio broadcasts, and also served as the Cubs' beat reporter.
In 2012, Masur completed his fourth season as the play-by-play voice for the University of San Diego men's basketball team. He has also previously called games for the Loyola University Chicago men's basketball team (2002-2007).
In the 10 years before he joined WGN in 1999, Masur spent time as a traffic reporter in the Chicago area, hosted his own overnight talk show on the One-on-One sports radio network and was a "Top 40" DJ on KZ93 FM radio in Peoria, Ill.
A native of Glenview, Ill., Masur is a 1989 graduate of Bradley University (Peoria, Ill.), with a degree in mass communications, radio & television.
Dick Enberg enters his third year as the play-by-play voice for Padres television broadcasts, after being named to the position in December 2009.
Renowned as one of the greatest sports broadcasters of all time, Enberg worked for CBS Sports for 11 years prior to joining the Padres team, most recently serving as a play-by-play voice for the network's coverage of the NFL, college basketball and the U.S. Open Tennis Championship. He also contributed to coverage of the Masters® and PGA Championship broadcasts on CBS Sports.
Enberg began his full-time broadcasting career in 1965 in Los Angeles as the radio and television voice of the California Angels, UCLA basketball and the Los Angeles Rams, and was named California Sportscaster of the Year on four occasions.
The many accolades Enberg has received for his work include 14 Emmy awards, nine Sportscaster of the Year awards, the Ronald Reagan Media Award and the Victor Award, recognizing the top sportscaster of the past 40 years.
Enberg holds the distinction of being the only person to win National Emmy awards as a sportscaster, a writer and a producer.
In February 1998, he became just the fourth sportscaster to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Enberg has been honored in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Rozelle Award), the National Basketball Hall of Fame (Gowdy Award) and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.
A native of Armada, Mich., Enberg began his broadcasting career as a student at Central Michigan University. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1957, he went on to earn a master's degree (1958) and doctorate from Indiana University (1962). He has been named a Distinguished Alumnus by both institutions. Enberg resides in San Diego with his wife, Barbara.
Mark Grant returns to the booth in 2012 for his 17th season as color analyst for the Padres television broadcasts.
No stranger to San Diego baseball, he pitched for the Padres from 1987-90. Originally selected by the San Francisco Giants with the 10th pick in the first round of the 1981 Draft out of Joliet (IL) Catholic High School, he played parts of eight Major League seasons with San Francisco, San Diego, Atlanta, Seattle, Houston and Colorado. Grant went 22-32 with eight saves and a 4.31 ERA in 233 games (58 starts). He recorded a career-high eight wins and posted a 3.33 ERA for the Padres in 1989.
Grant began his broadcasting career at KFMB Radio in 1994 as a sports anchor and talk show host. After retiring from baseball in 1995, he provided analysis on Prime Sports' Padres broadcasts in 1996, then joined Channel 4 San Diego upon its inception in 1997.
He is active in the community, currently serving on the board of trustees for the Rady Children's Hospital Foundation. Grant has been associated with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of San Diego since 1987, and also works with the Down Syndrome Association of San Diego. Additionally, he serves as a spokesperson for St. Madeleine Sophie's Center in El Cajon, a vocational and educational center for developmentally disabled adults.
Grant and his wife, Mary, reside in Alpine with their daughter, Alexis, and two sons, Andrew and Aidan.
Bob Scanlan enters his first season as a color analyst for the Padres' radio broadcast team, bringing with him the perspective of a 20-year professional baseball career and eight years of radio and television broadcasting experience.
Since 2004, Scanlan has been a broadcaster on television and radio, covering Major League, minor league and college baseball. Scanlan is a familiar face and voice for Padres fans, having most recently served on the desk of the Padres pre- and post- game shows on Channel 4 San Diego. He brings a passion for the game and a player's perspective to his analysis.
Prior to beginning his broadcasting career, Scanlan played professional baseball for 20 years, having been drafted as a pitcher by the Philadelphia Phillies out of Harvard High School (now Harvard-Westlake) in North Hollywood, Calif. After seven seasons in the Phillies system, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs, where he made his Major League debut on May 7, 1991.
Over the next decade, Scanlan went on to pitch for five additional Major League clubs: Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros and Montreal Expos. Retiring after the 2003 season, he contributed to nine Major League seasons, appearing in 290 games, posting 20 wins, 17 saves and a 4.63 ERA.
Scanlan and his wife, Elisa, have two children: daughter, Aleksandra, and son, Caden.
Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn returns for an eighth season to offer his baseball expertise as a color analyst on Padres telecasts.
A 16-time National League All-Star, Gwynn was inducted in to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 29, 2007 in Cooperstown, NY. The Padres legend became the 22nd member of the 3,000 hit club, and his 3,141 career hits rank 17th all-time. In 20 seasons with the Padres, he tied a National League record by winning eight batting titles.
Gwynn played on each of San Diego's first three Division Championship clubs and remains the Padres all-time leader in batting average (.338), at-bats (9,288), hits (3,141), doubles (543), triples (85), RBI (1,138), runs scored (1,383), walks (790) and stolen bases (319).
In 2004, the Padres retired his No. 19 jersey and, along with the City of San Diego, dedicated Tony Gwynn Drive, the street adjacent to PETCO Park. The club unveiled a statue of Gwynn in the Park at the Park at PETCO Park on July 21, 2007.
He has served as the head baseball coach at his alma mater, San Diego State University, since 2003.
Gwynn and his wife, Alicia, have a son, Anthony, who has played parts of six Major League seasons (including two in San Diego), and a daughter, Anisha, who is a nationally acclaimed recording artist.
Eduardo Ortega, the Spanish-language voice of the Padres, will be calling Padres games for the 26th season in 2012, his 32nd year in the broadcasting business.
One of the most highly regarded Spanish-language sports broadcasters in the business, Ortega has broadcast in the postseason since 1993 for various outlets, including CBS Hispanic Radio Network, Cadena Caracol, LBC Radio Network and ESPN Deportes radio.
He has broadcast 12 MLB All-Star Games, 17 World Series and two no-hitters. Milestones Ortega has called include Tony Gwynn's and Ricky Henderson's 3,000th hits, Randy Johnson's 4,000th strikeout, Mark McGwire's 500th homerun, Barry Bonds' 700th and 755th home runs, Trevor Hoffman's breaking of the all-time saves record, Hoffman's 500th career save, and four of San Diego's five division titles.
Ortega has handled the play-by-play worldwide telecasts of the Caribbean Series for Galavision and Fox Sports for 11 seasons and was the lead Spanish play-by-play voice for the World Baseball Classic in both 2006 and 2009.
In addition to his time with the Padres, Ortega served one season (1991) as the voice of the San Francisco Giants, four years as play-by-play announcer for the Tijuana Potros of the Mexican-Pacific Winter League, two seasons broadcasting for Tijuana's team in the northern Sonora Double-A Summer League, and one year as the voice of the Cotton Growers of Torreon, in the Mexican Summer League. During the winters of 2005-10, he also called games for the Mexicali Eagles.
Named Sportscaster of the Year by the Sportswriters Association of Tijuana in 1997 and Sports Ambassador of Tijuana by the city's mayor in November 1998.
In 2004, Ortega was honored by the Tijuana Sports Media with a Career Achievement Award. Additionally, the Mexican Federation of Sportscasters celebrated his 25th anniversary in broadcasting and his multiple contributions to the industry.
Ortega writes a weekly Major League Baseball column, "La Voz de los Padres," which is published in several newspapers in Mexico and San Diego County. He is a Tijuana native and a long-time San Diego resident.
Juan Angel Avila is returning for his 15th season in the Padres' Spanish-language broadcast booth. Avila handles the color and play-by-play duties alongside longtime partner Eduardo Ortega. Avila has been in the booth for the Padres' playoff and World Series games in 1998, as well as the team's Division Series appearances in 2005 and 2006.
In addition to his game broadcasts, Avila co-hosts "Mas Cerca del Juego," a weekly Padres television magazine show and writes a weekly Major League Baseball column that appears in several newspapers in Mexico.
Avila began his broadcasting career as the play-by-play voice of the Venados de Mazatlan of the Mexican Pacific League from 1992-95 in his native Mazatlan, Sinaloa. For the last 14 off-seasons, he has returned to Mazatlan to broadcast winter league games on television.
For the sixth time, Avila again served as the lead television announcer for the Caribbean Series in Puerto Rico in 2012, representing Mexico.
He was presented with the 2001 Sports Award in Mazatlan by the city council and was inducted into the Mazatlan Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008. Additionally, in 1998 the mayor of Tijuana honored him in 1998 with the Sports Ambassador award.
Avila is a graduate of Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. In the winter of 2009, he returned to his alma mater to teach a broadcasting and communications course. Avila resides in Chula Vista with his wife, Erica, and daughters, Airam and Tiffany.
