Neither are trained medically, but nearly daily, they dispense wisdom and clarity to an anxious population that is nuts over the Padres.
If the Padres win or lose, the phones are ringing before daybreak for the “Ben and Woods” show on 97.3 FM The Fan.
On the calls’ other end are often the distraught Padre faithful, looking for guidance from two sports talk guys who can’t be more different.
“I try to give a little perspective of how hard baseball is,” Ben Higgins said. “If the players aren’t doing well, it’s not because they aren’t trying to succeed.”
Steven Woods, Higgins’ co-host, is also bombarded with inquiries about all things Padres, especially when things go sideways like they have a season.
“Actually, I was more of a psychologist last season in talking people off the ledge,” Woods said. “This year, I need a psychologist to talk me off the ledge.”
The Padres are tiptoeing around the .500 mark, which in the not-so-good-ol’-days was cause for celebration. But after an offseason in which Padres owner Peter Seidler spent dough without regard for the organization’s debt ceiling, the local nine have driven the locals bonkers with their inconsistent play.
Padres boosters often turn to Higgins and Woods to vent either about the team’s tepid performances or on how the tandem, like it means anything, isn’t holding the squad’s feet closer to the fire.
“It’s the funniest thing and we’ve heard it all,” Woods said. “That we are a shill for the team, that we are bright-siders, and of course, that we don’t ask the tough questions.”
Being the Padres’ flagship station could kneecap their criticism, although both emphasize that’s not the case.
“Remember, we pay for the right to broadcast the Padres,” Woods said. “It’s not the other way around.”
There’s no getting around the fact that these two Encinitas residents are a keen duo. Their show’s ratings are the envy of others, and after five years together, the show’s four hours still move quickly, with Paul Reindl producing.
What’s crazy is that these two former part-timers with the now-defunct Mighty 1090 clicked. They’ve arrived at their current station in life after bouncing around the broadcasting business in various roles.
A Mighty 1090 executive hatched a plan to connect them for the vacant morning-drive show. Higgins and Woods didn’t know each other, so they were instructed to share a beer after work.
The Regal Seagull in Leucadia is where the suds were consumed, and a radio marriage was consummated.
Eventually.
“It was the worst meeting I had ever had,” Woods said. “Everything I wanted to do he didn’t, and everything he wanted to do, I didn’t. But I wanted to get back into radio so bad that I would work with anybody at that point.”
Higgins, the longtime KGTV sports director and anchor, wasn’t thrilled with Woods, either.
“I looked at him as being funny and entertaining,” Higgins, 47, said. “But I didn’t have a lot of other choices at that point.”
All these years later and with Higgins and Woods poised for a new contract, the beat goes on, weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m.
Higgins plays the straight man, keeping the train on track with his pragmatic approach and dry sense of humor.
Woods, who cut his teeth as a disc jockey spinning tunes, is more freewheeling as he discusses everything from a Padres pitching change to changing his kids’ diapers.
If there was a hard script, Woods, 47, is more apt to veer from it as he jabbers about life and pop culture.
“We couldn’t be more different,” Woods said. “Ben had like a 5.0 GPA in high school.”
The mischievous Woods came close to Higgins’ GPA, if combining his showing for all four years. That 5.0 is a cumulative mark, right?
We jest, which is easy to do with Higgins, a Torrey Pines High graduate, and Woods.
“We are completely different people, with our backgrounds and how we grew up,” Higgins said. “We took totally different paths to get to where we are.”
Added Woods: “The reason that we work well is because we have a trust in each other. There’s a mutual admiration for what the other person does.”
The ride has been a hoot, and no one is reaching for the emergency brake as these two etch their names along with others following in the footsteps of San Diego sports talk pioneer Lee “Hacksaw” Hamilton.
Now, could someone just please answer that 97.3 phone and explain why the Padres can’t hit with runners in scoring position?
Better yet, if a listener has the answer, just meet Higgins and Woods for a beer. They’ve got a favorite table where this all got started.
Contact Jay Paris at [email protected] and follow him @jparis_sports.
