This article originally appeared in the April 2011 issue of The Grand Salami.
By Jon Wells
Niehaus celebrating "Dave Niehaus Day" at Safeco Field in 2008
While the Mariners lost 101 baseball games last season, their biggest loss in 2010 came on November 10th, when longtime broadcaster Dave Niehaus passed away at his home in Bellevue at the age of 75.
While players, managers, and front office people have come and gone during the team’s 34-year history, Niehaus was the one constant. He broadcast the team’s very first game, a 7-0 loss to the California Angels on April 6, 1977.
Since then, Niehaus called 5,283 more Mariner games, missing a total of just 101 games over three and a half decades. It’s pretty safe to say that nobody has seen more Mariner games in person than Dave Niehaus did.
Somehow, he managed to make bad baseball entertaining for the people of the Pacific Northwest—and save for a nine-year run from 1995 to 2003, the Mariners have played plenty of bad baseball. In the seasons before ’95 and since ’03, the team finished in last place 11 times in 25 years. When Randy Johnson struck out the final Angels batter in the ninth inning of the one-game playoff in 1995 to put the M’s in the postseason for the first time, you could feel the relief in Dave’s voice as he exclaimed, “19 LONG YEARS OF FRUSTRATION IS OVER!”
Despite his advancing age and occasional health issues, there was never a thought in Niehaus’ mind that he would retire from calling Mariner games. In fact, other than taking three or four games off in each of the last few years around the All-Star break, he never slowed down, refusing the Mariners’ offers to do a reduced schedule of games or to only call the home contests.
As some of you out there may know, Dave Niehaus provided the inspiration for us to start The Grand Salami sixteen years ago.
His love for the game, his descriptive calls of the action on the field, and his wonderful stories were so unique that when he’d move from TV to radio in the middle of the game, I’d move with him to make sure I didn’t miss anything Dave had to say.
When I first met him, in April of 1996 in the broadcast booth of the Kingdome, I handed him our first issue of The Grand Salami with a bit of trepidation, wondering if he might feel like I’d stolen something from him, as we had named the publication after his signature call of a Mariners grand slam home run.
He quickly put me at ease, telling me how flattered he was that we’d named our publication The Grand Salami. He was always very supportive of our efforts, often telling me in the early years what a great job we were doing or how much he had enjoyed one of our articles, and he was always happy to make time to sit for an interview. And when I handed him a Grand Salami T-shirt in spring training of 1997, much to my surprise he showed up to the next day’s game wearing the shirt despite the fact that the team’s PR staff weren’t big fans of our publication.
Dave was a very gracious, quick-witted man who would always greet you by name with a “How are you?” so that you knew he was happy to see you. But the Dave Niehaus moment that stands out for me was when I went to Cooperstown in 2008 to cover his induction into the broadcasters wing of the Hall of Fame. Upon seeing me there for the first time, he thanked me for sharing the weekend with him, as if my presence had made his special weekend just a little more special. We should all strive to be so gracious.
So long Dave, we’re going to miss you. Mariner baseball will never be the same without you.
—Jon Wells
Dave’s longtime broadcast partner, Rick Rizzs, told the Seattle Times in November, “What a loss…he meant everything to Mariner baseball…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.”
Kevin Cremin, Niehaus’ producer-engineer for the last 25 years, concurred. “Dave was the best there ever was,” Cremin said. “Best guy, best announcer, best friend. No one could draw you into the moment, the drama of a game, like he could…he was one of a kind. It will never be the same without him.”
Rizzs, who partnered with Niehaus for 25 seasons, delivered a touching eulogy to Dave at a public memorial at Safeco Field on December 11th, telling the crowd on hand what a great teacher Niehaus was and how lucky Rizzs was to have been able to learn from him.
It was announced at that public memorial that a statue of Dave Niehaus will be erected outside of Safeco Field. According to the Mariners, if all goes well, the statue will be ready to be unveiled this September. We’re hoping that it will include an audio button, so that the next few generations of Seattle baseball fans will be able to hear Dave’s legendary calls of the finest moments in Mariner history.
While we’re sad to lose a Seattle icon, one thing we’re glad about is that Dave was inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the Hall of Fame while he was still alive, as the 2008 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting. At the induction ceremony that July in Cooperstown, New York, Dave gave the best speech of the eight inductees. He closed with this: “Several bigger names have preceded me in winning this award; there will be several bigger names after me to win this award. But no one will ever be more appreciative.”
When the Mariners finally win the World Series, whether it happens this year or in 2111, we’re quite sure Dave Niehaus will have a front row seat and will be smiling down on Seattle.
Pick up a copy of the September issue of The Grand Salami when you come out to the ballpark. This month's features include interviews with former GM Pat Gillick and former manager Lou Piniella, a fond remembrance of Rick "The Peanut Man" Kaminski, speculation on Jack Zduriencik's tenure with the M's, a column about Dave Niehaus by his son Andy, and much more!
For two glorious years, I was a professional baseball broadcaster (one year in the South Atlantic League, one in the Carolina League), until I got out for personal and family reasons.
But back in 1996, as a mere 16 year old, Dave was my hero. He had just had his heart issue, and the first game back was one I was at. I even had a hand-written welcome back card for him.
I later received a hand-written letter, on Mariners stationary, dated Sept. 28, 1996. It was from Dave. He addressed me, and then continued…
“What a neat note and letter. I want to tahnk you very much.
“Your ambition to be a play by play announcer is admirable. My recommendation would be to get a 4 year liberal arts degree with a major in radio & TV and Journalism. I am not a big fan of the so-called “radio & TV schools” – Get a well rounded education. There are other things in life other than baseball & announcing.
“Thank you for your best wishes & perhaps we can meet during the 1997 season.
“Best personal wishes, “My Oh My” Dave Niehaus.”
He had his business card in with it, also signed on the back.
I did meet him in 1997. The picture of that meeting, and the letter he wrote me, are both framed in my office at home.
Dave was one-of-kind. I’ll miss him forever.