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Call of the Mild
WHEN LEGENDARY MARINERS announcer Dave Niehaus died last November, he left a hole so big that the team decided to fill it with not one voice but five. A rotating cast of analysts—all of whom have called games for the M’s before—will split time in the radio booth this season alongside play-by-play man Rick Rizzs. But given Niehaus’s microphone mastery, what are the chances they’ll replace the Hall of Fame broadcaster in the average fan’s heart?
Published: April 2011
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I couldn’t agree less. Good baseball broadcasting is about the ability to be warm, interesting, very knowledgeable, and carry on game-long conversations on a wide variety of topics. A high IQ and a good wit are essential. This is what separates the great announcers — Vin Scully, Pat Hughes, Jon Miller — from the much larger collection of guys who can read the commercials correctly, get the play-by-play right, and spew out cliches. The good announcer teaches the game — not so much the technical aspects (an ex-player color guy can do that), but the historical and contextual aspects. He must know the players on all of the teams (not just the home team) well. Scully does a ton of homework and it shows. Finally a broadcaster has to respect the game — he can neither be awed by it nor condescend to it. Some of the bigger egos come across as mocking the game when they try to be the center of attention rather than the game.
The Mariners have no one even close to meeting these high standards. Rizzs is one of the worst announcers in the majors. He comes across as the really nice guy that cannot stop himself from banal cliches for two seconds. He is accurate and has a nice voice. Period. He cannot tell a story. He cannot carry on an educated conversation with his partner. He is formulaic — notice how every call has the exact same script with the names inserted. The listener learns nothing new, ever, from him. Just repeats the same drivel over and over.
Levine is the classic case of condescending announcing. He’s a Hollywood writer who thinks he’s entertaining by talking about himself. He knows almost nothing about the teams he’s watching because it’s a side job he got only because of his relationship with Dave. Sure, he’s witty, but he doesn’t belong in a baseball booth, and would be run out of town in any traditional baseball market.
Wilson comes closest to being a legit major-league announcer. The gap between his IQ and wit is painfully clear when he calls a game with Rizzs. He can actually maintain a thought and conversation with Henderson for more than a pitch.
Part of the problem with the M’s broadcasts last year is that there were way too many guys rotating — by design, of course, in the year after Dave. Now they need to pick four guys (two on radio and two on TV) for every day. I’d pick Wilson for radio. And maybe keep Blowers on TV. And then upgrade significantly by replacing Rizzs and Sims with major-league quality baseball announcers.
Yes, it’s nice to like Rizzs for his puppy-dog devotion to Dave and the M’s. But he’s a lousy announcer. Sims is a national football guy who does this cuz he needs summer work. But a baseball announcer he ain’t.
It’s time to start fresh by replacing Rizzs and Sims.
Flipping pages in the car dealership today, awaiting my oil change, I came across your review/ratings. My own may differ by mere decimal points, but I nearly jumped out of the faux leather couch and pumped my fist in the air, because – by golly – now I know I’m not alone.
Your summaries of each broadcaster were spot-on. Love the fawning homerism of Hendu and Valle, but the former butchers the simplest of phrases, and Valle just bores me to tears with his repetitive “observations” (much like Dan Wilson in his stints, bless his little heart).
Ron is Fairly bearable and has tenure, but Ken Wilson, on the other hand, had me clawing at my ears in a recent series, and not only because of his apparent unfamiliarity with the current ballclub.
Ken Levine doesn’t begin to fill Dave Niehaus’ shoes, but that expectation is completely unfair for any of the group. Still, he is the cream of this somewhat blighted crop. I was prepared to endure this season devoid of the silky baritone smoothness of my youth, but I wasn’t close to prepared for just how precipitous the drop off was going to be.
Dave Niehaus is already missed more than ever.
On a final note, Rick Rizzs has been exceptional. Despite playing second fiddle all these years, his professionalism and love of both Dave and the Mariners envelop those of us who are coming to grips with the loss of a legend and a wholly forgettable home team.