S1: Hey , San Diego , it's Andrew Bracken in for Jade Hyneman. On the eve of the San Diego Padres season opener. We hear from the former voice of the Padres. Ted Leitner called his final game last week. He shares what moments have stayed with him over the years and the bond he's formed with San Diego sports fans. This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. When you think of the Voice of San Diego sports , chances are the first name that comes to mind is Ted Leitner. For over 40 years , Uncle Teddy , as he is affectionately known by fans , has called the great triumphs and crushing heartbreaks that come with San Diego sports fandom. Whether it was as the longtime radio voice of the San Diego Padres and San Diego State Aztecs , or as sports anchor or radio host , he's pretty much covered it all in San Diego sports over the decades. And now he's calling it a career. Ted Leitner , welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Had your. Thank you. It's been a long time since we talked , and , uh , I've been looking forward to it.
S1: So you called your final game last week ? It was the San Diego State men's basketball game. It was their first four game in the NCAA tournament.
S2: This is it. Your first basketball game with San Diego State was 1978 , and now it's 2025 and this is it. So like you said , you'd love to have a a good game , you know , or even if you lose by ten. But it was just a terrible game and blowout. And North Carolina was like , you know , the great North Carolina teams of years ago though they're not. But they really it was just one of those games where , uh , it was over. It was basically over by the last few notes of the national anthem. So I have I've been very lucky because I have very few of those and a lot of those early on with the Aztecs and very , very few in the last ten , 15 years. They've been a powerhouse and it's been so enjoyable to be doing the game. So my idea was to , you know , enjoy the experience despite the blowout ? Uh , no. There were a lot of disappointed fans out there , but the story was not about me. It was about them and their team losing and being done for the year. And I tried to , you know , concentrate on that. Not so much in saying goodbye.
S1: And aside from that blowout , you have had some pretty great recent memories with that team. I'm thinking about the Final Four game winner , uh , from Sdsu , Lamont Butler in 2023. Can you talk about that moment and what that meant and what it was like to to call that.
S2: Just just fantastic ? And I , I personally had never been to a Final Four in person. I had seen it like most people on television , the teams that I had broadcast for , uh , through the years Oklahoma , Oklahoma State , University of Connecticut , they hadn't been to a Final Four when I was broadcasting with them years and years ago , so I always watched it on television. It was fantastic. It wasn't just the final four , the road up the road leading to the Final four. You know , when they ask that , people thought , well , now it's Alabama. You know , they were able to win early on , but now it's Alabama number one in the country. Number one seed with the starting a line of seven foot seven foot 611. Oh gosh. Now and they win that one. So it was just game after game. It was Christmas Day every day of that of that season. And the idea that I'm right there and in Houston to call the single biggest , greatest play and most famous in Aztec history in any sport is Lamont making that shot over of all people. Nick Boyd winds up playing for the Aztecs this past season. So a great story , great moment , and I was so thrilled , so thrilled. And you know what ? From a standpoint of having a sense of timing , I should have I should have retired right then and thought , hey , I'm going out on top. They got to the championship game and and really , you know , they they didn't score for nine minutes or whatever it was against Connecticut in the championship game. And they were still , you know , like six points down with five minutes to play and coulda , woulda , should have coulda in a normal day won a championship. But I was I honestly admitted I was selfish. I love it so much. I've loved my work so much that I couldn't say , yeah , I'm going out on top , uh , because the Aztecs were fantastic. I'll never get better than this. But I wanted a couple of more years , and I was selfish. And I'm. Because I'm going to miss it so much. I'm glad I got a couple of more years.
S1: And in that time , I mean , you've covered so many sports , so many teams in San Diego. I think for a lot of people , you're most synonymous with the Padres. You were the radio voice for , you know , over 40 years there before stepping down in 2021.
S2: That's a great question because , you know , you have these sports on television. And the biggest audiences are certainly on television for all of them , not radio. Uh , and but there's something I don't know about it , whether it's romance or or connection. But especially baseball is a great radio sport. It always has been. All of us who grew up and wherever we grew up , we had our favorite broadcaster for the home team , and we listened to him. We listened to him in the summer , and we connect him with the memories of summer and no school and and going out and swimming and playing ball and just having a just a great time for two months vacation in school. And I think that connects to the baseball , like I said , which has always been a generation to generation thing. And with the radio , it's much more important to people than it has been with football and basketball and hockey and sports like that. So it's it's a kind of a romantic thing. I just , I remember when George Will , the great conservative commentator who had been on the Padres board of directors , uh , when John Moores owned own the team , and I got to know him very well and still have gotten to see him a few times since then. And his his great comment was that baseball on radio has been the background music of my life , and that it's always there your broadcaster , your local guy , and the ups and the downs and the heartbreak and the euphoria. And that's why you hit it right on the head. Baseball and and radio is so special at a time. Now when radio is , you know , shaking. I'm not saying the wheels are coming off , but they're shaking with everybody having other means of listening in their own phone and so forth. Radio is not at its peak , that's for sure , as a medium. So I was just on time to have it when it still was very , very important to baseball.
S1: And you mentioned that , you know , the importance of that connection there.
S2: I did not know of the bond. And during my time with Jerry Coleman as my partner for 35 years , and Jerry was so revered as popular , I believe , as any broadcaster or athlete in the history of this. Is this community as a war hero and a great guy. And Jerry , to me was a mentor. He was a father figure. He was a brother , he was a best friend. He was everything. And he told me , hey , you know , I'm getting this , but you will when you have to hang around long enough and you're here long enough. You're coming into their living rooms , you're coming into their their backyards when they're barbecuing , and you're coming to the beach with them on these baseball games , and you're going to have that. And I thought , well , I don't know about that , Jerry. I'm not you , and I'm not as popular as you , but I've been so shocked. I have been so heart warmed , if that's a word , uh , by what ? The outpouring of people especially , you know , on Twitter now , x and and reading the comments for the last couple of years as I went toward this retirement , it was just it was outrageous. I had no idea of the connection. I went to the Padre playoff games last year , and I left early once when the Dodgers were way ahead in the last home game and I was right down by the dugout. It had great seats. I was I was so thrilled that the Padres gave me those. And I walked as I was walking up. I get out too early. I walked up the stairs , up the ramp , and as I went up the stairs , each section that I walked past started to applaud me and waved to me and yell to me , and the people on the aisle would grab me and say , thanks for the memories. We loved you. We loved you and Jerry together. And thank you , thank you , thank you. This went on all the way up the stands , to the up and to the concourse. And I thought to myself , eh , these people are so terrific. And b , I didn't know the connection I had in their family and through all these years , like you said , of the highs and the lows and the great moments and Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman and Ken Caminiti and all of these guys , and I was the conduit from them , the stars to the fans. And you don't realize it at the time. It would be egotistical to think it's about you. It's not. It's about the ballgame. It's about the players. I have been so Enriched by this reaction from San Diegans. I was in , uh , uh , Colorado Springs doing a nasty game and , and , uh , one of those Colorado places. I'm getting old , I'm getting old , and I can't remember A from B , and a guy came up to me with a sweatshirt and said , I live here now. But I went to San Diego State and I followed you on the Aztecs of the Padres. And you started to cry. And you said , you know , I used to listen with my grandfather and my dad to you on the Padres and the Aztecs , and now they're both gone. When I hear your voice , I think of them. Now. You can't buy that. And. And I don't deserve that. You know , first responders , Marines , soldiers , sailors , they deserve that. Cancer researchers , doctors deserve that. I don't as a sportscaster. But you know what ? I'll take it. I'm shocked and surprised , but I'm so happy to hear that I was part of their of their of their , of their past. And they have great memories of me as they have memories of the sports teams and the players.
S1: Well those are yeah , those are some really beautiful memories from fans. What memories stay with you.
S2: I don't think of that because the overall impact on me was the old adage that I guess there are no new adages. I guess they're all old. That's redundant. The old adage that if you find something you love , you'll never work a day in your life. And I did and I did. I loved it so much. The talk shows , the sports on the news on channel eight for 25 years , and the play by play of the Clippers when they were here , and the Chargers when they were here for years , and San Diego State football and basketball in 30 years. And and I loved it so much. There was no time , no game. I didn't love when the teams were bad , when they were terrible. I loved it because I loved the work so much. That's what I take with me , is that I got to do something I loved , and I think that puts me in the upper 000 1% of our nation , of a lot of people doing hard work , you know , with hard hats on. And I did not have to do physical work. And they did. And I respect what they do. They're the people that make this country go. And , uh , they built it. I was just going to ballgames and talking about them. And and yet I loved it so much that that's what I think about. And then , of course , like you said , the Lamont shot and the Padres clinching in 98 and oh five and oh six and and , uh , the Aztecs , so many clinching of regular season championships and beating BYU and in Las Vegas. And in 2010 after they lost to them twice you know with Jimmy for dead against Kawhi and Billy and Malcolm and DJ and they finally beat him. Ran him off the court at the time of Samak and the Aztec fans stormed the court. And it was just these wonderful memories. But it's the overall wow , were you lucky to have these jobs for so long ? That's what I take with me. It's incredible.
S1: What do you think having a vibrant sports culture adds to a city and in a region ? You mentioned , you know how the Clippers and the Chargers they're now gone. But San Diego FC , San Diego Wave FC , we have new teams coming in kind of you know fleshing it up.
S2: And then I stood outside. I left the Chargers game early against the Dolphins in 1994 when they had beaten the Dolphins. And we're going to go to Pittsburgh to play Pittsburgh. And then from there , if they won , they were going to the Super Bowl. And they did all those things. And I left early to go outside to do a live shot , the television. And I saw the people streaming out coming down the ramps at the old Jack Murphy Stadium , Qualcomm Stadium and the euphoria , the happiness on those faces , those people shouting and screaming. And how about that Chargers and let's go.
S3: Go Chargers go check. And I thought you.
S2: Know this is great. This is great. White people black people Native Americans Latino. Nothing matters now where you live in the city. That doesn't matter. All it matters now is you're a San Diegan and your team is winning , and your team is going to the Super Bowl. And it really brings communities together. The only time they come together nationwide earthquake , hurricanes , things like that. That's when , you know , neighbors get together and they don't have anger and differences. They have something in common. They're in San Diego , and we need to help our neighbors here who are trying to rebuild their house that was blown away or whatever , only that in the negative , the only positive thing that brings a community together is sports is sports. And whether it's obviously the NFL and the NBA , the teams that we used to have are bigger than these new soccer teams. But I ain't knocking that soccer team , male or female at all , because they are going to be the same thing now that they're here , and they're going to be important and they're going to bring this community together. To answer your question , it's important. It's really , really important. Always when somebody wants to build a stadium , it's , hey , that's a waste of money. That's a waste of money to build a stadium for the Chargers and yada , yada , yada , just to get a Super Bowl every few years. Hey , you're a tourist destination. You're advertising San Diego on that national telecast every single game , let alone playoffs and Super Bowls. You can't buy that. You have to pay for that kind of advertising. And you're known when you got only 30 teams out there and you're one of them. Like that guy my friend told me , you know , had gone through the thing in Baltimore. Don't let them get away because they're really , really important. It's not a matter of counting the dollars and how much they bring in. It's a matter of what's best for the entire community. And I think sports teams really are.
S1: So with that in mind. Tomorrow is opening day at Petco Park.
S3:
S2: I know the Dodgers are a heck of a team , and I know one of the one of the broadcasters. I won't mention his name for his privacy. Asked their CEO , Mark Walter , who is the chairman of the Guggenheim Group that bought them and spent all that money. And he said , Mark. Is there a limit to what you can spend ? And he thought and he thought honestly on this question and he said , no , I don't think there is. So that's like , you know , the people in the American League East had fighting Steinbrenner all those years. He wanted a winner , didn't care what it cost. And the Padres had a marvelous , marvelous taste of that when the late , great Peter Seidler was going for it. Man. Whether it was because he thought the cancer might come back or whatever he'd beaten twice , he's going to make people happy , and he's going to spend the money to get a winner for San Diego , God rest his soul , and God bless him. And and that's what the Dodgers have. So the Dodgers everybody thinks are up here and they are fantastic and terrific and added to their pitching staff. But I think the Padres will be good. They'll contend for a wild card and I expect with some help. And that's the important thing. You don't know who's going to break down , who's going to suddenly not be what he was because of his age. You can't answer those questions. We try to , but I think this Padre team in the National League West will be just fine. I'll be surprised if they're not in the playoffs.
S1: Well , that's good news for Padre fans there. Well , Ted , we appreciate you taking the time to kind of revisit some of your incredible career with us. Congratulations again on everything and we hope you enjoy your retirement. But hopefully you'll , you know , still be at Padre games.
S2: I will , in fact , I am ambassador for the Padres in my fifth year. And that's because Peter Seidler told me that in his office and in a wonderful , wonderful conversation , I'm not putting my patting myself on the back. But he actually said to me , you're an icon. And I thought , me ? Yes , you're a Padre icon. You're a legend in this community. Caminiti is gone. Tony Gwynn is gone. Jerry Coleman is gone. And I want you around the ballpark. I want you with this ballclub. And that's how I got this ambassador job. So thank you , Peter. Rest in peace. Thank you so much. And I will be around the ballpark and I will certainly be around Aztec basketball and football games no matter what. And looking forward to it.
S1: I'm sure Padres fans will continue to serenade you as they see you in Petco. Uncle Teddy , Ted Leitner , thanks again for your time today.
S2: I enjoyed every second of it. Thank you.
S1: That's our show for today. I'm Andrew Bracken. KPBS Midday Edition airs on KPBS FM weekdays at noon , again at 8 p.m.. You can find past episodes at KPBS. Org or wherever you listen. Thanks again for listening. Have a great day.
