Enberg was in town as the most recent guest of the Hall of Fame’s "Voices of the Game Series." But before he spoke before an appreciative crowd in the Bullpen Theater on Saturday night, he talked about the game of baseball and what it has meant to him both as a fan and broadcaster.

"This is my first time to Cooperstown and I’m just overwhelmed with the size and the depth of the Hall of Fame’s collection. It just brings back so many terrific memories," said Enberg, moments after taking a behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum’s collection. "All of the Halls of Fame have grown tremendously through the years, but this one was so much larger than I expected.

"Everyone talks about the quaint village of Cooperstown, and it is beautiful and spectacular here on the lake," he added. "I called my wife and said, It has taken me 72 years to get here, but in the next year or so we have to come back.’"

In an amazing broadcasting career that included a stint with the California Angels from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, then 25 years with NBC Sports before joining CBS Sports in 2000, Enberg has worked the Super Bowl nine times, the Olympics in 1972, 1988, 1992 and 1996, golf, tennis, college football and basketball, the NBA and boxing, among others.

"I’m proudly a member of the Football and Basketball Hall of Fame, but the one sport I love most of all, baseball, I just didn’t get enough innings in," Enberg said. "Maybe I’ll make a comeback."

When thinking back on the origins of his love of baseball, Enberg recalled how a family member spurred it on.

"When I was four years old my grandfather owned a small grocery story in Mount Clemons, Mich., where I was born," Enberg said. "I can remember him saying Dickie, come in here. If you can answer this baseball question you can pick out some Superman bubblegum.’ I would study my baseball because I knew grandpa would give me some free bubblegum."

Enberg’s fascination with the game continued after the family moved to Southern California.

"We lived in California during World War II. There was no major league baseball there but we had the Pacific Coast League’s Hollywood Stars and Los Angeles Angels," Enberg said. "We didn’t have a lot of money, but my dad, whenever we could get two-for-one, we’d go to the ballpark. So on Sunday we’d go to the doubleheaders of the Stars and the Angels."

A fair athlete himself, Enberg’s friends knew he had a better future talking than playing.

"I was from a small farm town. I was a decent pitcher, so as a kid I was able to play on the town team, which was a big deal, but not good enough to win a varsity letter at Central Michigan University," Enberg said. "My friends always used to say, Hey Enberg, you thought you were a good athlete but you always talked a better game.’ So it worked out okay."

Despite his lack of ability on the field, Enberg was able to stay involved in baseball as a coach after college.

"I earned my doctorate at Indiana University, and then went to work at Cal State-Northridge. I’d given up all hopes of coaching, but along with being a health science professor they said, We need an assistant baseball coach.’ I kept my baseball interest alive there," Enberg said.

"My first broadcast job was as a junior at Central Michigan when I was hired on as a dollar on hour sportscaster. And then when I left education, Gene Autry hired me in 1965 to do the Angels’ pre- and post- game shows on TV. And then in ’69, Bud Blattner, who was the lead play-by-play announcer, left to do the Kansas City Royals and I was the new play-by-play announcer with the Angels."

Enberg still lives by the advice he received only minutes before his first game as a big league play-by-play announcer.

"Fred Haney was the man I listened to as a very young boy calling Pacific Coast League games and now he’s the general manager of the Angels," Enberg said. "He came into the broadcast booth about a half hour before the first pitch, and I’m very nervous, and he said, Enberg, I heard you during spring training. I know you’re going to do a fine job for us. I just want to give you a little piece of advice: report the ball. Don’t tell me what you hope the ball is going to do, what you think it’s going to do, why it didn’t do it. Report the ball.’

Then he said, That’s all I have to say to you. I won’t come in your booth the rest of the year.’

"And it was a great gift that Haney gave to me because sometimes, especially on radio, when you are trying to paint the total picture, and when the pitcher backs off and refuses to throw the ball, it always took me back to the ball. And it works on all sports. When in doubt report the ball."

Enberg’s longtime broadcast partner with the Angels was Don Drysdale, the fireballing right-hander elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984.

"In our 10 years working together, there was never, that I can remember, a bad day or a bad night working with Don Drysdale. He always had a positive attitude. He found a way to have fun, even in the toughest times," Enberg said. "And he wouldn’t let me get too serious. He’d called me Professor. He’d say, Professor, come on. You’re taking the game too seriously. They just blew one, 9-1. They don’t seem to be worried about it, what do you care? Come on, I’ll buy you a libation.’ And we’d have a good night."

Despite leaving the Angels to join NBC, the team brought him back in 1985 to broadcast 40 games during the franchise’s 25th anniversary season.

"Those were my last baseball games. It’s been 22 years," Enberg said. "I’ve had a flirtation about doing baseball but I learned an important lesson in 1985.

Baseball is a 200-game season and part of the responsibility and the delight of calling games is you’re packaging the longest season of all and in that scorebook is every pertinent piece of information that you would want. It’s a history of that team’s season. And I couldn’t do it on a 40-game schedule. I vowed that if I’m going to do it I’ll go full-time. Maybe that will happen."

So what’s the next assignment on Enberg’s calendar?

"This is truly the end of my summer. I go do the U.S. Open tennis tournament next week, then the NFL, and then after football I’m on to college basketball. My next weekend off will be in April."

Enberg remains busy after all these years, but at least he finally made the time to visit Cooperstown.