Dave Niehaus, Hall of Famer
DMZ · February 19, 2008 at 2:29 pm · Filed Under Mariners
Press conference now on the team’s MLB site — after years of coming close, Niehaus won the Ford C. Frick Award and will be inducted into the broadcaster’s wing of the Hall of Fame.
Congratulations to Dave. He made many, many years of terrible Mariner baseball enjoyable for me growing up.
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And if I could make a request — we know Dave’s not quite in the form of old, but please, can we save the “I hope he retires now” and “He’s no good these days” comments for some later, undefined date?
Thank goodness. Listening to Dave call games during some lonely summers made all the difference in the world for me. Congrats, Mr. Neihaus.
Congratulations, Mr. Niehaus.
DMZ-I have read those comments posted by USSM readers from time to time. Its made me remember way back when the M’s finaly got a game on TV. I turned Dave on the radio and watched. Calls not even close. He is a radio guy and makes the game come alive. He is the same as he always has been, terrific.
Regardless of whether or not his accuracy has slipped, his voice still embodies everything that is baseball. It’s an honor highly deserved, and we’re incredibly lucky to have had him from the franchise’s first opening day.
Ah, I remember the very early years when Dave was teamed with Ken Wilson. They had a genuine rapport, and Ken was good to listen to. Where did Ken ever go?
A funny story of Dave’s that stuck in my mind from that era: Something about a young, female intern or some sort of new employee who had a message for “Dave Newsome and Ken Williams.” That just cracked the both of them up.
Dave Niehaus is the reason I’m a Mariners fan, or even a baseball fan. I’m glad he’s finally gotten in.
My Oh My!
Congrats Dave!
Yes! This is great news.
I remember hearing about him coming close before but does anybody know how many years he’s been close now? Or how long he’s been showing up on the ballot even?
J Michael Kenyon will be on the hot stove league program tonight, probably during the 7:00pm hour, KOMO 1000. Many of us remember listening to J Michael’s sports talk show on KVI in the mid-80s. I’m sure he’ll have some great anecdotes about Niehaus and team back then…
Dave is certainly the best we have, so I hope he doesn’t retire anytime soon.
Just because Dave has been on the air a long time doesn’t make him a great announcer. After moving here from New York (and the lilting voice of Howie Rose), I find it almost impossible to listen to him bumble and meander his way through a ball games making bad calls, mispeaks, and dead air common occurences.
I guess I didn’t realize he’d wander his way into the Hall of Fame.
Well, I’m having a late lunch, so it’s time to break out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma, because it’s…..smoked turkey and provolone cheese time!!!
Nah, just playing. Congrats Dave!
Come on, I asked nicely and everything.
as well as any sort of ill-natured remarks about possible alzheimers, alcohol, etc?
I can still hear his voice during his call of “The Double” to this day. We’ve been really lucky to have someone who has been so energetic for so long.
Neihaus makes quite a few goofs these days, but I still enjoy his game call, especially on radio.
I literally get mad if a grand slam happens after the third inning these days, and I am watching the game on TV.
A true legend that had a profound affect on my childhood. Growing up he seamed to be the absolute best there could be. I especially loved hearing him get fired up and hype the M’s prospects during spring training.
I’m with Derek here. No matter what you may think of his current announcing skills, Dave Niehaus is voice to all of the greatest moments of Mariner history and deserves his place in Cooperstown.
I think he’s still pretty awesome. And his radio calls are still entertaining. This is a just reward to a Seattle legend.
Oh, and by the way. My sister lives about 20 minutes from the Hall of Fame, so I’ll probably head up this summer for the induction. Any awesome ideas of something cool I could deliver from a bunch of stat geeks?
alex.carson@gmail.com
The timeless call of “FLYYYYYY FLY AWAY!” will ring in my mind every time I see a dinger hit, regardless of team/situation.
BIG BEN DAVIS! BIG BEN DAVIS! FLYYYY FLY AWAY was the most overused quote with my group of friends one summer. Good times, gratz Dave!
Re: 7
My thoughts exactly.
Congratulations, Dave, you deserve it.
[while I sympathize, let's keep this thread on topic with Dave Niehaus's awesomeness]
Congrats, Dave, it’s well deserved.
1. – Totally agree. The nostalgia I have for Dave totally overshadows any loss of game he’s had over the past few years, or the constant stories about his grandkids.
Dave belongs in the Hall of Fame. I’m glad he’s there.
I must say, I like Dave’s dead air. We don’t need constant commentary, even on the radio. Dave lets the tension build, and he’s really good at it.
[while I sympathize, let's keep this thread on topic with Dave Niehaus's awesomeness]
[while I sympathize, let's keep this thread on topic with Dave Niehaus's awesomeness]
Michael Kay had some nice things to say.
I love the dead air. You can hear the crowd and all the beautiful noises that waft around the ballpark.
Nice, finally a Hall of Fame entrant that won’t be tainted by claims of asterisks and supplements.
Well deserved, Mr. Niehaus. I didn’t grow up listening to you, but a 4 year stint in South Chicago listening to Hawk Harralson and DJ really brought home what good baseball announcing can be.
This City doesn’t have much in the way of Championships to boast about, but the fact that it’s still a great sports town is due in no small part to some great announcers. Kevin Collabro, Pete Gross, Steve Raible, and on top of the heap Dave Niehaus – We have truly been blessed.
I still start to tear up when I hear replays of Dave’s call of Randy Johnson coming out of the bullpen in 1995, and of course The Call:
“And here’s the 2-1 pitch to Edgar – Lined down the leftfield line…….”
Michael Kay called him “Don Neihaus”.
It’s amazing how much the man really did mean to my entire childhood. To hear the same voice for a couple hours a day 162 days (sometimes more!) a year for the last couple decades really makes him a part of our lives. Congrats to him.
I think everyone here owes him a debt of gratitude for making M’s baseball what it is. So many memories. In terms of DMZ’s requests, Niehaus himself has made a number of hilarious references to losing his mind these last few years. I don’t care, I can follow the game myself and find whatever he gives well worth it.
No who’s the senile play-by-play man.
I’m both a relatively recent baseball, and relatively recent Mariners, fan. I wasn’t here for The Double, or for ‘95, or any of the rest.
But I’ve listened to other announcers around the league, and there’s just something about the way Dave Niehaus calls a game that puts him above the rest, in my mind.
His voice, to me, embodies all the good things about baseball, and that’s why I’m proud to have him as the voice of the Mariners, and now am proud to see him in the Hall of Fame.
I’ve been listening to Niehaus as long as I can remember. When he retires, summer won’t be the same. I can easily forgive his little lapses, because no one calls a baseball game like Dave Niehaus. And I like the pauses, where he just lets me soak up the ballpark’s ambient noise. He doesn’t need to fill that empty space with inane chatter. That’s Rizz’s job.
One of the things I most appreciate about Dave is that he is one of the few hometown announcers who isn’t afraid to be critical about the home team. Not as critical as bloggers, but pretty damn critical considering his role as marketer…
The voice of my childhood. Well-deserved, at that. It’ll be a sad day in Marinerville when he leaves the team.
Some people out there just like to find fault. is Niehaus the best, maybe not. But he’s the best Seattle has ever had and has entertained the hell out of me for a number of years. Isn’t that what it’s all about anyways?
If you want to complain about the guy, save it for another day. There are plenty out here who are thrilled to death for the guy. Why would you want to rain on that parade?
Dave’s on Xm 175 right now.
“And the 3-2 pitch to Doug Strange is…IN THE DIRT AND WE ARE TIED!”
(Strange checked his swing on ball four, forcing in the tying run and sending the ALCS Game 5 against the New York Yankees into extra innings).
Congratulations Dave, you’ve earned it.
Nobody else could make you hang on every pitch of a routine 6-3 loss to George Brett and the Royals.
The man has been an integral part of the pleasure of following the Mariners over the years, the glory years (deliberately lower-case), and now. As a kid growing up in San Diego, the voice of summer was Jerry Coleman’s (for a Padres team that positively sucked, by the way), as an adult living in Seattle these last 16 years, the voice is Dave Niehaus screaming and carrying on. And he still makes it fun…makes the radio better than the cable 161 games a year.
Dave’s got a great radio voice. There aren’t many great radio voices around. I’ve been fortunate to live in cities with 2 of them. I’m glad that the M’s have stuck with Dave even as his talents have slipped. I wouldn’t want to listen to anyone else call an M’s game.
Kudos to the M’s for recognizing Dave as an icon and kudos to the group that finally awarded him the Frick award. I know he’s been waiting a long time for this award and he must be thrilled.
RE: 44 That’s a very good point. It took me a long time to warm up to Kevin Callabros after Bob Blackburn WAS the Sonics for so long and the same with whomever it was that followed Pete Gross calling the Seahawks games.
Awesome, I think this is about as happy as I’ve been over anything Ms related, certainly for the last 6 years or so. Well deserved, congrats Dave.
I had a summer job in LA in 1973. For years afterward, I remembered listening to Dick Enberg, Don Drysdale, and some other guy doing the Angels games. I liked Enberg, didn’t care for Drysdale, and the other guy didn’t make much of an impression on me. But when I moved to Seattle in time for the 1990 season, he sure did. There have been a lot of great memories listening to Mariners games since then, but nothing to compare with 1995! I remember Niehaus introducing Edgar, Tino Martinez, and Mike Blowers at a post-game gathering in SoDo to promote a new stadium. Niehaus deserved to throw out the first ball.
Thanks for all the memories, Dave Niehaus!
My first season here was ‘95. More precisely, the ‘95 playoff run. So between Niehaus and Calabro, I thought the only thing Seattle broadcasters did was YELL AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS WHENEVER SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENED LIKE A MEXICAN SOCCER ANNOUNCER!!!!!!
I grew up with the Rangers (pretty non-offensive) and the Cardinals (with Jack Buck, who could announce the apocalypse with class). Then I was in Denver for the birth of the Rockies (and gaah, Charlie Jones, the most clueless announcer I’ve ever heard).
So Niehaus was completely different. But a good different. Yeah, he’s getting older and starting to say odd things, but he’s still Niehaus.
At least the Hall honored him while he was still alive. I was afraid he wouldn’t get inducted before he was long dead and Edgar was going in on the Veterans Committee ballot.
Well deserved!
Congratulations to Dave, he deserves it. Like many, I grew up with Dave calling Mariner games, and his will always be the voice I associate with the team. He’s earned the right to call Mariner games for as long as he likes, and I hope he sticks around for a good long while yet.
My most vivid Niehaus memory wasn’t The Double – I was in the Kingdome for that, and even though I had headphones on to listen to the radio call, I couldn’t have heard it if I tried – it was in 1996 when there was an Earthquake during a home game. Dave figured out what was going on and promptly got the Hell out of Dodge. “I’m getting out of here.”
Link for those who don’t remember that night
I wouldn’t want to hear a Mariner game without him. Congrats, Dave. Well deserved.
Viva Dave! There are many of us who think we could do a decent job of calling a game for the radio. Have any of you ever tried? Turn the volume down on the TV some time and see how you do. It’s an art, in every sense of the word, and Dave is a maestro. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t make mistakes, but they pale in comparison to how he brings you along for the evening. Now preparing the lump in throat for Dave’s speech at Cooperstown. Again I say, Viva Dave!
Dave was doing his impression of Gene Autry talking about Dave’s time with the Angels:
“Dave, you call a helluva game. It’s not the game I’m watching, but it’s a helluva game.”
Congratulations, Dave.
In honor of this, I’m going to break out my fiancee’s old audio cassette of the Best of the ‘95 Playoffs.
It’s officially licensed!
Travis
A perfect way to cap off a great weekend.
I’m a relative late comer to Mariner baseball having lived in the Alaskan gulag for many, many years — but Dave Niehaus has been and continues to be the voice of the team for me.
My oh my, what a nice salute to a man who has enriched a lot of lives including mine.
It’s about time! Several years later than he deserves… But at least they did him justice.
Congratulations, Dave!
speaking of Jerry Coleman, Dave was wondering earlier today just who had called more losing baseball between he and Coleman
Congratulations, Dave. This is an honor well deserved.
I had the great pleasure of meeting Dave (and Rick) in the press box at the Oakland Coliseum last year. I told him how much he meant to me growing up, hearing him call the M’s in my back yard in the summer. He seemed genuinely touched when I told him that.
A great honor for a great, classy man.
Reasons to love Baseball.
1. Dave filling the air with low-key, baritone reminicences
2. Ichiro, Fashion Icon.
oh, Dave said during his press conference that he would have loved for Drysdale to have been his HOF presenter; later when talking to G&G on KJR, he said that he wants Junior, but that Griffey ‘is working’ (the Reds play the Rox that day)
ITS ABOUT TIME!!! Congrats Dave. Now that I am stuck listening to the M’s on XM I only get to hear about half the games called with the hometown crew, but this award has been a long time coming. Dave made listening to the M’s as a teenager the only way to go. Turn down the TV and turn up the radio.
But I do wish that he hadn’t spent thirty-one years ignoring the broadcaster’s adage, you can’t give the score too often.</em
Otherwise, I echo Dave Clapper’s (# 5),
Regardless…, his voice still embodies everything that is baseball.
the KOMO hot stove show is a little like “This is your life” tonight– Dave is on the line from Peoria, and they are calling various and sundry friends. Dick Williams was just on, and next up, Red.
Dave said he got a voice message from Ken Levine that said “this is the happiest day of my life– Castro resigned”
Congratulations Mr. Niehaus. You are truly deserving of this reward. I spend a fair amount of time in L.A. during the season and it is excrutiatingly painful to watch the Mariners play the Angels when they are in town due to Rex Hudler being just so bad. Maybe the Angelenos like him but to my mind Dave’s the best and always will be “The Voice”.
Oh, Mr. barndawgie #12, how little I know you and how much you embody everything I hate about New Yorkers. Please go home.
Dave = the first true Mariner represented in the Hall. Am going to have to seriously consider a trip to Cooperstown for the ceremony.
More than the voice of the Mariners, Dave is the voice of the Northwest. He narrates all of my best memories growing up: painting the house on a hot summer day, sitting around the campfire with my grandpa and my dad, walking out of the Kingdome into the warm Seattle dusk clutching my transistor radio after a rare and glorious win.
Opening day in 1986. The entire Refuse-To-Lose run. Bosio’s no-hitter. Griffey’s 8th HR game in a row. And all the Rye Bread. Thank you for the poetry, Dave.
And, finally, I loved those early webcasts when the mic got left on between innings and we finally got to hear what Dave was really thinking. Does anyone know where I could find one of those gems posted somewhere?
What often is missed is that “My Oh My” is not always uttered as the exclamation point to big plays. Dave has my eternal admiration as a home team broadcaster because he found plenty of ways to express his disgust, including the use of “my oh my” as muttered disapproval. He is about as balanced as a company employee could be in his broadcasts, and in this he puts other local broadcasters in larger or more traditional markets to shame. The sound of summer–the man could make the long innings of blowout losses in Cleveland in the 80s tolerable. I still think Niehaus and Ken Wilson have never been bettered as the Mariner broadcast team.
And about the dead air–you would think Rizzs would have learned something after 22 years of working with a Hall of Famer. Get a clue.
I dread the day that he either croaks or quits. The guy literally lights up my spring and summer — there are few things more comforting to me than the sound of Dave calling a game on the radio. I worked for a summer as a barista, and every night, I would look forward to the M’s coming on so I could listen to Dave. (More accurately, looked forward to the bottom of the 5th so I didn’t have to listen to Rizzs anymore, but that’s a different thread.)
Since the Mariners and I were born in the same year, I’ve known nothing else. He’d have been in the Hall a long time ago if he wasn’t in Seattle. Great to see an injustice righted, and I’m glad he’s still around, no matter what anyone says.
[off-topic, if you want to discuss site policies use the email the authors link and don't derail threads]
I just hope to be lucky enough to hear Dave make the last out call when the M’s finally when a world series. (I said when, not if, just so that noone can say USSM is not an optomistic place:))
“The Mariners are going to play for the American League Championship! I DON’T BELIEVE IT”
Amen #30, I get goosebumps everytime I hear or watch that.
I thought a while back that it’s quite possible that apart from immediate family and close friends, I’ve maybe heard Dave’s voice more than any other in my life. Which would be weird, and cool, and nothing I would ever be ashamed of.
Go Dave. Congrats.
67 – I completely agree. What always strikes me about M’s broadcasts is that they spend at least as much (if not more) time discussing players on the other team. I always found it interesting because we already catch so much about the M’s in the pre-game, papers, etc.
Such a great contrast from the WhiteSox guys, who call the Sox “the good guys” and the opposing team “the bad guys”.
Dave always has done a good job of staying away from unabashed homer-ness.
I too think Dave was overdue for this. I really don’t care if he has lost a step, the day that he stops broadcasting will be a very sad one for me. He embodies the M’s to me more than any other person, whether a former player, coach, or GM.
Listening to Dave Niehaus call a game on the radio makes me think of a kid riding a bicycle down a tree-lined street on a sunny summer afternoon with no worries that will last past dinner, nothing that absolutely has to be done by any particular time, and the vague sense that not only was today a perfect day, but tommorrow will be even better.
I think voices like his are one of the reasons the game has endured for so very long, through so many changes in society.
I’m another person that he really brought into baseball.
It was 1997, I was 15 and driving grain trucks. I think one could play cassettes, but most had AM only. So during the down time or while driving I could read, or listen to those August games on AM radio.
Niehaus really made me enjoy baseball, and to this day I consider it the only sport that can be as good on the radio as watching on TV. Unfortunately, getting the right broadcaster to make that true is almost impossible now.
One thing about Dave that sticks out for me. I was hiking Emerald Pools in zion National Park in 2001. On the way back down the trail you hit a point where you get a great vista down the canyon. In April the canyon is very green from the winter runoff. I’m seeing this majestic view and the description that pops into my head is Dave’s voice from the ‘95 playoff run.
“This is just…indescribable!”
I think it was in the bedlam after the one-game playoff with the Angels but it may have been after The Double.
My most vivid Niehaus memory wasn’t The Double – I was in the Kingdome for that, and even though I had headphones on to listen to the radio call, I couldn’t have heard it if I tried – it was in 1996 when there was an Earthquake during a home game. Dave figured out what was going on and promptly got the Hell out of Dodge. “I’m getting out of here.”
I was listening to that earthquake game. It was amazing to hear the open mike with no one in the booth — could hear background noise in the dome for what seemed like a long time, more than 10 minutes anyway.
MY OH my is a nice catch phrase for Dave…but I much prefer, “Get out the rye bread, Grandma”….
The great thing about Dave is that he can just shut up every once in awhile and let the images and background sounds of the game entertain us. Some motormouth broadcasters are like disc jockeys, seemingly trained to cover ANY dead air with some inane comment. (see: Rick Rizzs)
Hooray! for Dave!
Definitely a warm treat to hear his voice every summer.
Hi folks,
I’m David, Dave Niehaus’ son. Dad calls me Andy, my middle name, long story… I was just googling and ran across this site. This is great and I’m glad it exists. I thought I would chime in for a few words.
First, the word “proud” just doesn’t quite say it all. I called my dad yesterday at 10:15 to wish him a happy birthday, and he told me the news. I was not to say a word until 11, probably the toughest 45 minutes since the birth of my first son. I actually had to pull over and sob like a little kid who just had Santa deliver exactly the toy he wanted. Our family has been waiting for this for years. We’re all just giddy.
Thank all of you for your warm comments. As far as those who think he’s lost a step or two… he’s 73 f’n years old, people. I’m 43 and I’ve lost a few steps, too.
People sometimes ask me what Dave Niehaus is really like. I always say, “you already know him.” He’s the same guy who has come into your home, your car, your campsite, wherever, between 7 and 10 on a Tuesday night, for 3 decades, to talk baseball. He’s a great dad and and even better grandfather. He’s a salty old bastard, with a dry wit and sometimes sick sense of humor, who loves this game like no one else. Let’s just say I’ve heard “MY OH MY!!!” in a variety of contexts, especially as a teenager in the late 70’s. ‘Nuf said.
Now it’s off to Cooperstown, where we all hope to finally paint that town Mariner Blue. I’m so damn proud of my father for reaching the pinnacle of his profession, for getting his Oscar. And like dad said, this belongs to all Mariner fans. Very humbling, if he could thank you all I know he would.
Kind Regards,
David “Andy” Niehaus
Thanks for stopping by and sharing that with us, Andy, and give your father our collective congratulations.