Time Diminishes And Can Even Eliminate Hate: Uncle Teddy Edition

In the 9th grade I wrote an essay, the title of which escapes me. The content however, will be something I always remember. It was about a San Diego sportscaster who was loud, opinionated and extremely obtuse in regards to some of the sports I enjoyed most.

I had only lived in SD for a couple of years yet my opinion was molded quickly and assuredly regarding this man. I hated him. I hated everything about him. The disparaging remarks about the game of hockey and its controversial fundamentals of fighting to the constant need to make himself the center of the news story.......always a journalist no, no. I still have some pieces of writing from my High School days but this essay, unfortunately, was one that survives only in reminiscence. I vividly recall labeling this man a simpleton as I scribbled away about his inadequacies. This man who drew my ire still thrives in these parts.....you know him as Uncle Teddy.

Yes I hated the Padres' play-by-play radio announcer Ted Leitner and I suspect I wasn't the only one. I can only speak for myself when I say that time has assuaged my personal dislike for Uncle Ted and I have grown rather fond of him. I love the Padres and such devotion gives me plenty of exposure to the man. While he's still opinionated I find myself appreciating many of his convictions. From his condemnation of Barry Bonds and Manny Ramirez to his deep admiration of his color partner, Jerry Coleman. To listen to Ted is to be immersed in baseball knowledge as well as extreme homer-ism....and I'm fine with that....I can live with the occasional lapses in judgement that have caused Ted to heap praise on to some pretty abysmal San Diego squads. I've listened to a few of the "great" broadcasters out there and they're just as guilty of biased attention towards "their" team. After all, it's the MLB club that hires the radio station to do their games so the opportunities to be critical should be few and far between......if, of course, 1090 wants to keep the Padres. So Ted is what he is and I happen to enjoy that about him.

I mention because: I was listening to the game the other night and it was vintage Ted Leitner. It was his classic affectation of, "Hey, those are My Padres!"......

My Padres My Padres My Padres My Padres My Padres

I've always thought about it as a classic San Diego homer-ism, until that is, Ted explained something during that game. He hearkened back to his Channel 8 days and explained how while doing his telecasts and describing a Padre win he framed the story as:

My Padres did this, that and the other.......

But when the Padres lost he framed the story quite differently. When the Friars failed he changed the possessive pronoun from my to your......as in:

Your Padres did this, that and the other........

Ted washin' his hands of Padre futility, now this was an explanation that made sense. After the snafus of '08 & '09 will he bring it back?

Whatever the case, I laughed, learned and in the process found a little more admiration for the Uncle.

Jerry Coleman and Ted Leitner