For decades, Ted Leitner’s voice has been synonymous with San Diego sports. Whether calling Padres games, delivering play-by-play for Aztecs basketball and football, or offering his signature opinions on local sports broadcasts, Leitner has carved out a career that few in sports media can match. But as the 2024-25 San Diego State men’s basketball season comes to a close, so too does his time behind the microphone.
“I would have gone on forever until the last day,” Leitner said. “As George Carlin used to go, football plan, the two-minute warning, where God is saying, ‘Get your stuff together, two minutes, that’s all you’ve got.’ That kind of thing. I would have kept going right to the two-minute warning in life.”
However, Leitner’s decision to step away from calling games wasn’t driven by a lack of passion—it was a matter of health.
“Glaucoma had a second opinion on that, and my eyes have weakened tremendously,” he explained. “So toward the end of baseball, it was really difficult to follow that little baseball, and it was also difficult on the road getting around, as it is for me now.”
Despite these challenges, Leitner remained deeply involved with the Padres organization. When he left the broadcast booth, the late Padres owner Peter Seidler ensured he would still have a place with the team.
“Peter Seidler made me an ambassador. He was so rich to me, made me an ambassador, pays me. And though Peter is gone, I’m still doing that,” Leitner said.
Leitner, who has been a fixture in San Diego sports since the late 1970s, spent 41 years calling Padres games, 25 years on television news and 30 years as the play-by-play voice for San Diego State University athletics. Over that time, he became more than just a commentator—he became part of the fabric of the city’s sports culture.
“I am so lucky. I am so blessed,” Leitner said. “And Terry Coleman taught me this also when he was older, that, you know, you hang around a while and you will— I think I mentioned to you—you’ll make that connection with the fans, and you’ll be part of their family, and they invite you into their living room.”
He recalled a moment that encapsulated just how ingrained he had become in the lives of Padres and Aztecs fans.
“I saw a tweet one time when it was Twitter a few years ago, and someone had tweeted that they were in Santa Barbara, and they’re on vacation, the entire family,” Leitner recalled. “And we get in the car to drive home. This is the summertime, and we’re going to drive home to San Diego. We get in the car, and we turn the Padre game on, and there’s Uncle Teddy. And I turn to my wife and I say, ‘Hey, it’s Uncle Teddy. It’s like we’re already home.’ And that touched me so much. I’m kind of breaking up just talking about it to you.”
The relationships he built with fans and colleagues alike have been among the greatest gifts of his career. Leitner spoke about the bond he shared with fellow broadcasting legend Jerry Coleman.
“You can imagine what it was like for me to come out here while I’m doing TV sports in 1978 and starting with the Aztecs in 1978, and I turn on the Padres game, and there’s Jerry Coleman,” Leitner said. “And I’m thinking, that’s Jerry. That’s the same Jerry Coleman I watched in New York play second base for the Yankees. And then we spent 35 years side by side and friends, and it’s just those kind of things have happened in my lifetime. They’re just absolutely a gift from God, amazing.”
His impact goes beyond just his voice on the airwaves. For many fans, Leitner represents a direct connection to their most cherished sports memories.
“I was at Fort Collins, Colorado with the Aztecs at a game last year, and a guy in an Aztec sweatshirt, but in Fort Collins, was now a resident of Fort Collins, and he came down at halftime and asked if he could shake my hand and take a selfie,” Leitner said. “And I said, ‘Sure, sure.’ And while he was talking to me, he said, ‘You know, I listened to you on the Aztecs and the Padres with my dad, and I miss him so much that every time I hear your voice, I start to cry thinking of my dad and my grandfather who started me listening to Aztecs and Padres.’ And that kind of emotion—you can’t fake it.”
Leitner’s career was defined not only by his longevity but also by his distinctive personality. He made a name for himself not just as a play-by-play man but also as a commentator unafraid to offer his opinions.
“When I established a TV thing of giving opinions and being opinionated and so forth, which turned some people off, but it also—even the people that it turned off or the viewers who liked me—the marketing research showed that they trusted me,” Leitner said. “Because they assume, ‘But he’s on TV, he’s given his opinion like that. He’s taking all that criticism for giving his opinion, and so I trust him.’”
That trust even extended beyond the broadcast booth, influencing fans in ways he never expected.
“At the time, I was advertising for Marvin K Brown, a Cadillac GMC, and I did that for 25 years,” Leitner said. “And there they would tell me that people would come in and say, ‘You know, I don’t like that Leitner. He’s a big mouth, but I trust him, and so I’m going to buy a car from you, because I heard his advertisement for you.’ And I thought, wow, wow, that’s an interesting dynamic.”
As he steps away from the microphone, Leitner hopes to be remembered not just for his voice but for his integrity and passion for the teams he covered.
“I would like to be remembered as, you know, he was honest, told the truth as he knew it, was entertaining, and he was different in many ways,” Leitner said. “And I think those are the kind of things I would like to be included in their memories of me—if they, you know, remember me at all.”
Though his time calling games is coming to an end, Leitner’s presence in San Diego sports isn’t disappearing. His role as an ambassador for the Padres ensures he’ll still be a familiar face in the community, continuing to share his love for the game and the city he has called home for decades.
“I’ve been so, so lucky, and somebody up there has been looking out for me, and I really appreciate it,” Leitner said.
