Kuzul

In the second installment of the Mariners top 20 prospects we see two guys drafted in 2010 who have taken very different paths to the majors. This article is out much later than intended, but the passing of Dave Niehaus deservedly shook up the list of priorities for Seattle writers. However, here it is; enjoy.

15. Jabari Blash, OF, R/R, 20 years old

2010 Minor League Stats: .266/.362/.477, 5 HR, 6 2B

A lot of Mariners fans are excited about Blash. At 6’5″ and around 200 lbs, and already hitting the ball hard, Blash figures to be a guy who can develop into a power hitter, even if his performance in college doesn’t back it up. Drafted in 2010, Blash had a very impressive debut in Rookie ball.

Blash is considered very athletic, and though he’s considered a raw prospect, he’s pretty refined considering he just started playing baseball in high school. Blash’s five home runs and 12 total extra base hits in 32 games seem to show that his transition from metal to wood bats will be successful. Blash will have to make sure he doesn’t get too big in his frame, because while his defense is considered to be above average now, losing a few steps after a presumed weight gain would be detrimental to his prospect status. With a strong arm, above average defense, and a bat that could rate as very good, Blash is an interesting piece to the Mariners future.

2011 Estimated Level: A

MLB ETA: 2014

14. Johermyn Chavez, OF, R/R,  21 years old

2010 Minor League Stats: .315/.387/.577, 32 HR, 30 2B

Along with Brandon League, Chavez was traded to the Mariners in exchange for Brandon Morrow. Billed at the time as an essential equivalent Greg Halman, a huge year in Adelanto, California with the High Desert Mavericks, the Mariners Advanced A ball affiliate, has changed that to an extent.

High Desert players frequently post much higher extra-base hit rates because of the thin air and heat combination in Adelanto, but many good Mariners players have come through the affiliate. Either way, Chavez’s stock, even in a potential trade, is undoubtedly up, but Jack Zduriencik hasn’t appeared to make a lot of moves strictly with eyes on trading a player later. However, Chavez struck out less often and walked more often this year to go along with his power, which is a promising, perhaps sustainable sign.

2011 Estimated Level: AA

MLB ETA: 2013

13. Rich Poythress, 1B/DH, R/R, 22 years old

2010 Minor League Stats: .315/.381/.580, 31 HR, 33 2B

Just like Chavez, Poythress benefitted greatly from the environment at Advanced A ball High Desert. There was no doubting Poythress’ power potential but he had a long swing, and like Blash, there were questions about his transition from metal to wood bats.

With Justin Smoak in place at first base, Poythress stock is ultimately much more volatile than some other Mariners prospects, because he has no defensive position at the big league level (or Smoak doesn’t, but at this point it appears that Smoak will be a better defensive first baseman). So while Poythress is an impressive prospect from an offensive perspective, he must be the best position-blocked hitting prospect in the Mariners system to get the DH job in the bigs. If his bat doesn’t play, and play well, his peak is likely the smaller part of a righty-lefty platoon at either DH or first base.

Estimated 2011 Level: AA

MLB ETA: 2012

12. Carlos Triunfel, SS/2b/3b, R/R, 20 years old

2010 Minor League Stats: .256/.286/.332, 7 HR, 12 2B, 2 SB, 8 CS

Triunfel is a guy whose 2011 is vitally important to his prospect status. After a 2008 that saw him post a minus-20 RAR rating according to Total Zone, Triunfel broke his leg early in the 2009 season and missed the vast majority of the year.

He came back in 2010, and while the Total Zone numbers aren’t out for 2010 yet, and errors are an incomplete metric by which to judge defense, Triunfel’s 31 errors at shortstop at West Tennessee are hardly encouraging. While it is hard to give up on a player at age 21 (which he’ll be next season), Triunfel has shown no signs of progress, and with his speed robbed by his 2009 injury, the chances of him remaining at shortstop are minimal, and his bat may not play elsewhere.

Estimated 2011 Level: AA

MLB ETA: 2014

11. James Paxton, LHP, 21 years old

2010 Minor League Stats: (Independent) 17 IP, 9.17 K/9, 3.57 BB/9

This is admittedly an aggressive rating for Paxton. First of all, he isn’t even signed with the team yet after being drafted in the 2010 draft. Also, Paxton missed his senior year in college after being drafted in last year’s draft, and using Scott Boras in his failed negotiations with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, and ended up playing his 2010 season with the Independent League Grand Prairie Airhogs.

If we buy into the idea that Paxton can return to his mid-90s velocity from college—as he worked in the high-80s and low-90s this year—the rest of his issues as a pitcher should be aided by Safeco Field. Paxton gave up 11 home runs in his junior year, which should be partially aided by the transition from metal to wood bats used by his opponents, and also by the same logic that has led to relative success for Jarrod Washburn and Jason Vargas.

I think that Paxton will remain a starter, and that his command issues have been overblown by his struggles against metal bats. He only gave up one home run in the independent league. Also, he figures to be a guy who—with two good pitches—can make a quick ascent to the major leagues provided that he signs early enough.

Estimated 2011 Level: AA

MLB ETA: 2012

Prospects: 20-16

To see 20 guys that didn’t make the cut, click here.

For Fixing the 2011 Seattle Mariners profiles, check out the following:

Ted Lilly, Ramon Hernandez, Michael Saunders, Colby Rasmus, Adam Dunn, Chone Figgins, Dustin Ackley, Felipe Lopez, Willy Aybar, Jack/Josh Wilson, Yu Darvish

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I saw a post on mlbtraderumors.com quoting uber-agent Scott Boras as stating he has never seen more interest in a player than he is currently receiving for client Adrian Beltre. 

Most likely, that is just puffery by Boras, who well understands how important it is to throw as much bull up against the wall as possible, since at least some of it will stick in the minds of MLB’s general managers.

One thing is for certain, though.  Whoever signs Beltre will pay top dollar.  That is the first, second and last thing 90 percent of the players who choose Boras as their agent are looking for.

Whoever ponies up for Beltre will likely regret it.  Don’t get me wrong—on balance Beltre is a fine third baseman, but whoever signs him will almost certainly pay way more than what he’ll actually be worth for the life of the contract.

Beltre is essentially a great defensive third baseman who is no better than mediocre or a little above average as an offensive player, except that he has had two fantastic seasons with the bat completely out of line with his career norms.

Beltre established himself as a major league regular at age 20 in 1999, and for the first two years he absolutely looked like he would be a future superstar, posting OPS numbers of .780 at age 20 and .835 at age 21.

Then he hit a wall, posting OPS numbers over the next three seasons of .720, .729 and .714.  Those are decent numbers for a third baseman with Beltre’s glove, but hardly what you look for in a superstar or even a player who can carry a team.

At age 25, Beltre finally broke out and looked like he was going to be the superstar everyone had predicted and been waiting on since the late ’90′s. 

He hit .334 with 48 HRs and a 1.017 OPS, while playing his home games at Dodger Stadium, a graveyard for hitters.

The Mariners rewarded Beltre with a five-year contract for $64 million after his monster 2004 season.  In the greater scheme of MLB, that really isn’t that much money, and Beltre played reasonably well for the money the first four season as a Mariner, posting OPS numbers of .716, .792, .802 and .784.

Again, you can build a winning team with a third baseman with those offensive numbers who fields like Beltre. 

However, it’s worth noting that the M’s failed to make the post season in any of Beltre’s five seasons in Seattle and finished under .500 three of those five seasons.  Thus, it’s difficult to argue the Mariners got what they were paying for when the signed Beltre.

In 2009, Beltre’s OPS fell to an ugly .683, and given the bad state of the economy, the Red Sox were able to sign Beltre for a one-year deal at $9 million. 

The Red Sox figured that Beltre, who was still only 31 in 2010, would have an offensive bounce moving from Safeco Field to Fenway. The Red Sox were right, and Beltre had a terrific season, hitting .328 with 79 extra base hits and posting a .919 OPS.

Odds are Beltre will never post an OPS over .900 again.  Beltre was 31 in 2010, which, at least before the Age of Steroids, was usually the last year of a player’s prime seasons. 

Beltre probably won’t be playing his home games in a hitters’ park as good as Fenway next year, and with eight seasons in his career below an .800 OPS and only two above an .850 OPS, you have to figure that Beltre will be lucky to have even one season significantly over .800 on the multi-year deal he’s likely to sign.

The only way I can see Beltre being worth the money he’s going to get on this contract is if the team that signs him is a third baseman away from post-season success in the next two or three seasons. Otherwise, they’ll likely regret the contract, the same way the Mariners did.

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The world has lost an icon. After 34 years of being a radio and television announcer for the Mariners, all 34 years of the team’s existence, Dave Niehaus has died at the age of 75.

At the risk of sounding insensitive, I truly believe that the only way that Niehaus would have ever left the booth was with the suddenness, and route he ended up leaving it. Niehaus’ love for baseball transferred to several fans, including myself, and while there is no palatable exit for Niehaus in the eyes of the true fan, perhaps this one is the easiest to deal with.

Because you see, lifelong Mariner fans have known no Mariners baseball without Niehaus. He’s been there since the beginning.

He saw Diego Segui pitch the first game in Seattle Mariners history. He watched Segui go 0-7 in his one year with the Mariners, the last year of his career at age 39. He watched Segui’s son David play first base for the Mariners years later.

He saw Ken Griffey Jr. make his major league debut. He watched Junior and his dad, Ken Griffey Sr., hit home runs back-to-back, in a season that would hold several firsts for fathers and sons playing together. He’d see Junior hit 399 home runs, and bolt for Cincinnati.

And he watched “The Kid” return to Seattle a man. 

He watched A-Rod, the Big Unit, ‘Gar, Bone, Dan the Man, and several other good or great Mariners who weren’t fortunate enough to receive nicknames from the Hall of Fame announcer.

More than anything though, Niehaus saw a lot of crappy baseball.

But he never left. He never grew disinterested, or if he did, he didn’t let you know. Did he grow disappointed with the team? Sure, but you could tune into any game, during any season, and fill your speakers with  genuine emotion, often sorrow, that Niehaus was able to spin that into an entertaining product night in and night out.

While great late-night talk show hosts are able to spend each night using comedy to lessen the affects of life’s ills, and morning show hosts are able to poke fun at the country’s problems, Niehaus’ arena, and his topic of conversation more-often-than not was a depressingly bad baseball team.

But Neihaus remained in Seattle for the duration of his career, and remained an ambassador for the northwest for the remaining duration of his life.

And on October 3, 2010 Dave Neihaus called his last game. He watched Anthony Varvaro, a 25-year-old making his fourth career Major League appearance, take the first loss of his career.

It seems sad that Niehaus’ last season was one that saw the Mariners finish with yet another last-place finish in the American League West. However, if it would have been fitting for Ken Griffey Jr.’s last at-bat to be a home run, or Randy Johnson’s last batter faced to have been a strikeout, Dave Niehaus’ home run was taking awful baseball and turning it into spun gold.

Every place I’ve ever worked I’ve been “the sports guy.” Looking to lay a bet and need advice on who to bet on? Looking for fantasy football advice? Want to talk about the gem last night’s starter started? I’m your guy. As such, I’ve begun to notice that the scope of a sports tragedy is defined by the spectrum of people who come at talk to me about it.

When men from Boston, California, Texas, and Minnesota are talking about the death of a local hero, I know that his reach has gone far beyond local.

Dave Niehaus, you were the soundtrack to my childhood, the master of ceremonies to my upbringing, and the narrator to my wildest dreams, however unfulfilled. You’ll be forever missed, and while baseball will go on without you, it will never be the same. Rest in peace Dave, from one of the many lives you didn’t know you touched.

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As a college kid I once drove to Southern California with my soccer team buddies. 

We had a very difficult and grueling two-week season-opening training camp to prepare for, so we decided to pack all five of us into my small Toyota Corolla, and we headed down to Santa Cruz to prepare.

Five guys with five soccer balls across the back window as we drove.

Two weeks later, anxious and homesick, we drove all night.  And I’ll never forget that last corner driving north on the I-5 freeway by Boeing field.  When you make that turn and first see the tall buildings of downtown Seattle with the Olympics in the background, the exuberance never fails!  You know you are finally home.

The soothing tones of Dave Niehaus had that same kind of magic. 

When you heard him weaving words together like an artist, transforming an average baseball game into a majestic masterpiece, you knew you were home.   

His voice was like no other, describing baseball for the Seattle Mariners like nobody else can, or ever will again.

He was our friend.  He felt like our father.  Our childhood pal who we stole away with, late at night when our moms thought we were sleeping. 

His was the voice heard while painting a deck, or floating on a boat during a warm summer night on Lake Washington. 

He made the woeful Seattle Mariners more than just a baseball team.  He made them feel like family.

And he was there, each summer, each game.  Always there.

We all knew the news of this past Wednesday was coming. After all, he was 75 years old. But like any beloved family member, none of us were ready for him to be gone and we certainly were not ready when he left.

The most talented and unique personality in Seattle sports history has passed, leaving a hole in the hearts of so many.

There really is nothing else to say that hasn’t already been mentioned.  So rather than try, let’s have Dave himself do what he did for so many years. 

This is not a clip of a famous play.  This is just an average game on an average summer night, recorded during a meaningless extra-inning game almost two decades ago. 

Playing the Chicago White Sox as my then young family rode the ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle, he made average games more than just baseball. 

Dave Neihaus’s brilliance was in how he made the routine special.

Over the past four decades every one of us heard hundreds of games just like this one.  While approaching Seattle in the car, or from far-off corners of the state, Niehaus brought the game to life with enthusiasm and clarity, as if every one was game seven in the World Series.  

Thus the best call ever made by Dave Niehaus, was the one he made every single day during four decades of baseball seasons. 

It will never be the same listening to a Seattle Mariners game now that’s he’s gone!  

(If for any reason the embedded clip fails to show, you can still find the video here.)

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“Swung on… and LINED DOWN THE LEFT-FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY’RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE… LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON’T BELIEVE IT, IT JUST CONTINUES…MY OH MY!”

For long-time Seattle Mariners fans, that call during the 1995 ALDS to beat the Yankees still sends chills down their spines. It will always be connected to that year, that magical year in Seattle sports history.

On Wednesday afternoon, it was announced that Dave Niehaus had passed on after suffering a heart attack in his home in Bellevue, Wash. He was 75.

“All of baseball is terribly saddened tonight by the tragic news that Dave Niehaus, the voice of the Seattle Mariners, has passed away. He was one of the great broadcast voices of our generation, a true gentleman, and a credit to baseball,” said MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.

“He was a good friend and I will miss him. But he will be sorely missed, not only in the Pacific Northwest, where he had called Mariners games since the club’s inception in 1977, but wherever the game is played.

“Dave was a Hall of Famer in every way. On behalf of Baseball, I offer my condolences to his wife, Marilyn, his children and grandchildren, to the Seattle Mariners organization, and to his many fans.”

Niehaus discovered his passion for sports broadcasting in college, when he called a basketball game between Indiana and Ohio State University.

After stints as a cook, page, and being drafted into the Army, Niehaus moved to Los Angeles to further his dream of broadcasting.

He called games for the L.A. Rams, USC Trojans, and UCLA Bruins, before doing play-by-play for the California Angels for seven years.

At 41, Niehaus won the lead announcer role for the upstart Seattle Mariners, beating out over 100 other applicants. Needless to say, he became an icon of baseball in the Pacific Northwest.

He was there, and made you feel as if you were there, through it all. From Randy Johnson’s no-hitter to the unveiling of Safeco Field; from the record-tying 116th win to Ichiro’s single-season hit record, Niehaus was there through the glory of Mariners baseball.

But perhaps more importantly, he was there through the years when the Mariners were a joke of a franchise, fielding MLB worst teams year in and year out. And yet, through the wholehearted and dramatic spin he put on every game he called, he made it all bearable for Mariners fans.

“Dave has been the father figure for the Mariner organization for many years,” said former Mariner Dan Wilson. “His voice and his stories have graced the transistor radios, living rooms, and kitchens of Mariner fans throughout the Pacific Northwest for several decades.

“A true professional in every sense of the word, Dave brought us all to the heights with his ‘Grand Salamis’ and ‘My Oh Mys’ and always made us proud to be Mariner fans and players. His love for the game of baseball was unsurpassed and that shone through every time he got behind the microphone.”

Niehaus won the Ford C. Frick Award and was honored as a Hall of Fame broadcaster in 2008, but he would tell you that his proudest moments were when he connected to his fellow fans and players.

Listening to local radio, the fans whose lives Niehaus touched could be heard all day and night, each with their unique story of the personal experiences they had with him. Former Mariners poured in with their own touching tributes, many of whom referred to Dave as their own grandfather figure.

“ [Losing Niehaus is] tough because he’s like that grandfather to all of us especially Jay, me, Edgar and Dan and so many other Mariners, he was like our grandfather,” said former Mariner great Ken Griffey, Jr.

“He would give you a little bit of advice, and he was tough on you when he needed to be. This is a day that I was hoping would never come. It’s just a sad day for all of us, not just his family, but for everybody in the great Northwest.”

How much Dave Niehaus meant to the Pacific Northwest, and to baseball, can never be quantified. Niehaus truly transcended the game that he loved so much, and will always be remembered for it. But he was always quick to let you know how lucky he was to be broadcasting Mariners games.

“I love the game and the fans,” he said. “If I wasn’t out here doing the games broadcasting, I’d be out here sitting in the stands. I’ve said this a million times, but I’ve never had to go to work a day in my life.”

That voice that inaugurated the ’77 Mariners when Diego Segui threw the first pitch in M’s history; that voice that graced more than 5,000 Mariners games; that voice that pervaded through 33 years of Seattle baseball, and made the lean years endurable; that voice that will never announce another game or be replaced, but will forever be ingrained in our hearts. 

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Being a Mariners fan has always been a tough thing to be and now it’s even tougher. Longtime Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus passed away of a heart attack at the age of 75. 

I never had the fine opportunity of meeting Mr. Niehaus but I still feel as if I knew him by just listening to him call games every spring and summer night in Seattle. 

I was born in 1991 and watched the Mariners as early as I can remember. The first thing I can remember about the Mariners is that great voice of Mr. Niehaus. If the Mariners were losing by double-digits, which happened a lot, he made it entertaining to keep watching the game.

Ichiro would come up to bat and Mr. Niehaus could tell you the funniest story about him. Mr. Niehaus was more than just an announcer, he was family to the Mariners players and management. 

Mariner great Ken Griffey Jr. thought of Mr. Niehaus like a grandfather-like figure. Another Mariner great, Jay Buhner, said he was like a father figure to him.

Mr. Niehaus is also the only Mariner enshrined in Cooperstown where he will soon be joined by the likes of Ken Griffey Jr. for sure and hopefully Edgar Martinez.

But the thing I will most about Mr. Niehaus is how I was raised with him by my side every spring and summer and how well he called the games. He was such a brilliant announcer with many crazy funny stories that made everyone smile. 

He made really awful announcers sound good because he was so easy to work with. He was very friendly and cheerful with everyone he worked with and overall just loved the game of baseball.

And we can’t forget about his great calls of all-time such as when someone hit a grand slam, “Get out your rye bread, grandma, it’s grand salami time!” We can’t forget the oh-so-famous one that was said every time something great happened, “My, oh my.”

Lastly, maybe the most famous call of all time in Mariners history which came during the 1995 American League Divisional Series versus the Yankees:

“Right now, the Mariners looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior’s speed. The stretch…and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martinez, swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY’RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE…LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON’T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY, OH MY!”

Those kind of calls made Mr. Niehaus the best announcer ever in my opinion because of his enthusiasm and love for the game. 

The baseball world has lost this great legend and even better a kind man who just loved the game, so please rest in peace, Dave.

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Dave Niehaus had only called a few innings for the Seattle Mariners in the past couple of years on television before handing the rest of the television game duties over to Dave Simms.

For most of us, that change would have us quickly mute our televisions and turn on that radio to keep hearing the voice of Mr. Niehaus, the real Mr. Mariner.

So as we sit here tonight and rewatch “The Double” or when Randy Johnson closed out the Angels in the one-game playoff over and over and over again on YouTube, video tape or whatever other media that you have your classic Mariners moments on, we have to think about who is going to be the poor soul who is going to replace this legend.

How long does it take to replace a legend? Should we ask the Cubs if they’ve found a suitable replacement yet?

When I watch the Mariners, I really cannot imagine another voice calling the Mariners game in and game out.

The first name that comes to mind is Dave Simms, but no one in Seattle really enjoys listening to Simms and his stories that deal with baseball.

You can sense that Mike Blowers wants to physically hurt Simms in the booth after his 184th horrible joke that inning.

Simms is a great football announcer and seems like a really decent man, but I don’t think he is the right guy to take over for Dave Niehaus.

How about former voice of the Sonics, Kevin Calabro? Outside of Niehaus, Calabro is probably the next most recognizable voice in Seattle sports. He has just as many catchphrases and exciting moments.

Calabro called all the great moments from the early ’90s and on. He’s done a few Mariners games here and there, and he has been serviceable.

But as a full-time replacement to Dave Niehaus? I really don’t think he’d be up for it, especially with an NBA team returning soon to Seattle, and his heart would be there and calling the Sonics 2.0 games.

Rick Rizzs? He seems like the most likely candidate overall. He’s not as hated as Simms and has been by Niehaus’ side for years and has learned an awful lot about the business from him. Rizzs definitely has the voice and has been with the Mariners in some capacity or another for as long as I can remember.

I almost feel that Niehaus would pick Rizzs to be his replacement. I can say that I wouldn’t mind so much if Rizzs took over eventually, but I don’t view him as the long term replacement.

Do you?

For the first game of 2011, I feel the microphone should be silenced in tribute to Dave Niehaus. He’s called all but 100 games of the Mariners and I feel that leaving the microphone silent and letting our minds remember all the calls from the past and imagine him calling the game the only way he could call it.

It is going to be hard to replace him and for some of us who’ve been spoiled by his greatness, the person who takes over for him will never live up to the immeasurable standards put in front of them.

Dave Niehaus was family and you cannot replace family, the chair will always be empty and we’ll just have to rely on YouTube or other forms of media to hear the greatest voice to ever call the game of baseball.

Dave Niehaus is irreplaceable. 

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As a teenager I lived in Yuma, Arizona, then the home of the San Diego Padres training camp.  I had a little brother who liked baseball: 1+1 = a couple of $5 tickets and afternoons watching the Padres play a new team.  My team.  The Seattle Mariners.

Being a Washington native (as was my brother), who else would we root for?

Dave Niehaus didn’t accompany the Mariners to training camp. There were no professional announcers at those preseason games, and I had no clue who Dave Niehaus was.  But he was there, in Seattle, from the very first game.

Since I’ve moved back to Washington, I’ve paid a lot more attention to the Mariners than I used to. I’ve come to realize that, just as Vin Scully is the voice of the Dodgers and Harry Caray is the voice of the Cubs, Dave Niehaus is the voice of the Mariners.  He always will be.

I’m sure Rick Rizzs will step up and will do a great job. He always does.  But he’s not Dave Niehaus and never will be.  I’m sure he agrees.

Here for your viewing pleasure:  Some moments from Mariners history, being immortalized by Dave Niehaus.

Begin Slideshow

I’m going to keep this short. 

If you are a real Seattleite, this is one of the saddest nights of your life. Especially if you’re a baseball fan.

One of the truly great broadcasters of our time passed away today. Dave Niehaus, the only voice Seattle Mariner fans have really known.

He was there when we lost, which for many years was most of the time.

He was there when we won, which was mostly during the Ken Griffey years in the 1990s.

He was there in the concrete horror that was the Kingdome. He was there at the wonderful, state of the art Safeco Field. 

But for Mariners fans, he was always there. 

Until tonight.

I will miss his comforting voice as much as I will miss his trademark calls.

I just texted a friend with the simple words “my oh my” and he immediately texted back, “Oh, no. Did Dave Niehaus die?” 

I know we are not the first baseball fans who have lost their “voice.” Earlier this year, the Detroit fans lost Ernie Harwell.

But few teams have lost the only voice they’ve ever had. That’s what Mariners fans are facing tonight.

My condolences go out to the entire Niehaus family tonight. And believe me, in Seattle, it’s pretty much the entire city. At least that’s the way many Seattleites feel.  

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Growing up, the Atlanta Braves were my team. The Jones’ boys, Chipper and Andruw, were my favorite players. Why the Braves growing up in Grants Pass, Oregon? My grandmother was an admirer of the now-retired Bobby Cox, the Braves games were shown conveniently on TBS and I happened to visit routinely (and intentionally) at game-time. She would be there knitting, listening to Skip Caray and Joe Simpson call the game while I, from the years 1990-2003, plopped in front of the television and watched in awe. This was baseball. This was growing up on the game.

But, living in the northwest, the Seattle Mariners rightfully caught my attention. I watched the Braves intently, and they were always my favorite team during my youth, but the Mariners were up near the top of my list. Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Dan Wilson, Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez and others joined alongside the Jones’ boys. It wasn’t just the play on the field that made the game exciting; it was the way it was called, too. And just as Caray and Simpson added to the experience as the Braves announcers, Dave Niehaus did the same for the Mariners.

Neihaus, who passed away today at the age of 75, brought an uncanny amount of excitement to the booth since the franchise’s inception more than 30 years ago. When the Mariners were awful he made games worth watching. Some broadcasters do that. I would watch the sloppiest Dodgers game just to listen to Vin Scully tell stories. Niehaus was like that for many. An 11-6 loss was a loss, but there was two and a half hours of Niehaus. That was the consolation prize to many who appreciated his enthusiasm.

Some announcers profess excitement when necessary. They scream jubilantly when a big play is made by their team. But, a fan could really tell how much Niehaus cared. Not just the person behind the mic but the person outside the booth. It wasn’t a job for Niehaus, nor was he putting on a mask for viewers. It was a way of life, a passion. And he enjoyed every diving stop by Rodriguez, every game-winning gapper by Martinez, every diving catch and every moonshot by Junior and every strikeout by The Big Unit to the fullest. It didn’t matter if it was April or October.

I didn’t watch Seattle very often, but hearing him exclaim “Fly, fly away!”and “My oh my!” after a player tied into one, I could see why so many in the Seattle area, people who were far bigger fans than I was, appreciated him. And why his passing is such a devastating loss. He will be missed not only by me, current and former Mariners who had a chance to get to know him, and thousands upon thousands of fans, but by the game of baseball itself.

Reaction to His Shocking Passing

Buhner, from an article by the Seattle Times Larry Stone: “In the late ’80s, early ’90s—some of my teams—there wasn’t much of a product on the field but people tuned in to hear Dave. He’d rant and rave off the air, then ‘bam’ be back on the air and be totally at peace calling the game. The booth was his home, and he made you feel every pitch, every play. He could call a sunset. It’s a sad day for all of us.”

Howard Lincoln, the Mariners CEO, and Chuck Armstrong, Mariners president, in a release from the team as documented in Stone’s piece: “Since calling Diego Segui’s first pitch strike on Opening Night in the Kingdome some 34 years ago, Dave’s voice has been the constant with the franchise. He truly was the fans connection to every game.

“He truly was the fans’ connection to every game; to wins and losses; to great plays and heartbreaking defeats; to Hall of Famers and journeymen. He was the voice of spring and summer in the Northwest.”

Rick Rizzs, his longtime partner in the booth, was stunned by the news: “I feel numb. He meant everything to Mariner baseball. Everything. He was not only the voice of the Mariners, he WAS the Mariners. He was the face of the franchise. When you turned on the radio, everything was right with the world when you heard Dave’s voice.”

Griffey: “He’s one of the greatest men I’ve ever met and had the privilege of knowing.… He is Mariners baseball. Everyone talks about all the players; we can’t hold a candle to that man.”

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