The Seattle Mariners confirmed that longtime broadcaster Dave Niehaus died on Wednesday, as I first found out via Jimmy Traina. Niehaus, the 2008 Ford C. Frick Award winner, was the voice of the Mariners since the franchise’s inception in 1977. Niehaus spent time as a broadcaster in Los Angeles prior to moving to Seattle, calling California Angels games and UCLA football and basketball.
In case you’re from a different part of the country and unfamiliar with Niehaus, he had the best grand slam call of all time. I remember working as an audio editor cutting highlights when my man Eddie Garcia first introduced me to Niehaus’ work. After hearing his call, I was hooked. From that point on I got excited whenever the Mariners loaded the bases, just hoping to hear Niehaus’ brilliant call “Get out the rye bread and mustard grandma, it’s grand salami time!”
The best example of a Niehaus call I could find online comes from this bottle cap opener:
And of course Mariners fans will never forget this special moment for the franchise:
Rick Rizzs is fun to listen to but Dave Niehaus will definitely be missed.
Also, check out Terry Melia’s detailed piece on Niehaus at Upper Deck Blog.
