Padres hire Red Sox announcer Don Orsillo to replace Dick Enberg

Enberg, 80, announced last week that next season would be his last.

Orsillo, 46, has spent nearly his entire career in the Red Sox organization.

The Padres said Thursday that Orsillo has signed a long-term deal and will become the primary television play-by-play broadcaster on FOX Sports San Diego when Dick Enberg retires after next season.

“We are excited to add Don to our broadcast lineup”, Padres president and CEO Mike Dee said in a release.

New in 2016, Don Orsillo will join the Padres broadcast team and will do select games for both television and radio broadcasts.

The Padres met with Orsillo while the Sox were playing in Baltimore earlier this month, and made an aggressive offer that could not be matched by other interested parties such as the Dodgers and even ESPN. Drama already ensued when news broke that Don Orsillo was being pushed out as the play-by-play announcer after 15 years at the microphone, to be replaced by Dave O’Brien. The decision to remove Orsillo was a controversial one, eliciting outrage from the rabid Red Sox fan base, who started a petition for the station and team to reconsider its position.

The firing at NESN in Boston came as a surprise to many as Orsillo was one of the most respected broadcasters in the Majors. “We look forward to both his fun-loving personality and outstanding play-calling ability resonating with Padres fans during what we expect will be a very long career in San Diego”. With him and Mark Grant holding down the TV broadcasts after 2016, Padres fans should have no issue getting used to hearing a great baseball broadcaster in Orsillo. Orsillo will also work a few games for the radio broadcast, and will have the opportunity to announce a few nationally televised games for Fox Sports. While Ted Leitner returns for his 37th season calling Padres games, his partner Bob Scanlan will not return in 2016.

Former Red Sox play-by-play man Don Orsillo will be joining the group on a limited basis next year before taking over full-time in 2017.