I'm Finished Being Productive For A While

Major League Baseball has added lots of classic highlights to their online video database. What a beautiful excuse to relive the double.



Enjoy your Sunday.

Life After Niehaus

The 2011 season isn't too far away, mostly for better, but a little for worse. There is going to be a point where I wonder why I haven't heard Dave Niehaus belt out a "Fly, Fly Away!" If the M's are as punchless as last year, it might take a while for me to notice, but I'll notice.

What exactly are the Mariners going to do with the seat Niehaus vacated a little too soon for any of our tastes?

Greg Johns caught up with Randy Adamack, the M's VP of communications, and apparently the right guy to talk to for answers about Dave's successor. John's article can be found here.

I won't summarize the article here; it would defeat the purpose of the link. We will find out what the M's do pretty shortly from the sounds of it though.

What should they do?

If it were up to me, I would make Rick Rizzs the lead play-by-play guy, which would mean having him call the majority of television broadcasts. He has been here a long time, and understands what Niehaus meant to the Mariners and the community. Plus, he is a pretty good broadcaster. Maybe a little too chipper and energetic from time to time, but I find it lovable. In fact, his upbeat demeanor might mesh rather well with the more tranquil approach of Mike Blowers.

Rizzs and Blowers, for me, is the right mix to follow Niehaus. I would love to hear what others think though. If you were Randy Adamack, who would you ask to follow Dave?

Fly, Fly Away

image from mlb.com

Seriously, Dave Niehaus's heart attack hit me like bad news about a family member. A friend called me tonight, and I mentioned that - and as I thought about it more, I'm okay with it feeling like that. Dave Niehaus entered my world 162 times a year for about 3 hours for my whole childhood. That's a pretty steady force, like a close friend or family member.

Dave Niehaus definitely influenced me as a child, like my close friends and family. I write a blog about Mariners baseball. The voice that entered my world 162 times a year as a child has something to do with who I am today. And that voice is gone. There's a big hole there now, and I know it will close up some with time, but I know it won't close all the way.

As morbid as this might sound, from time to time I had wondered what it would be like when Dave Niehaus passed away. Would he die in the booth? Would he retire? Would it be fast? Would it be long?

Dave Niehaus, HOF

Today the recipient of the Ford Frick Award was announced, and it was none other than Dave Niehaus. The award itself is prestigious, but the biggest perk of winning is enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. Niehaus had been a finalist for the Frick award for the past several years.

It seemed clear that Niehaus was getting closer and closer to winning the Frick award, and to a certain extent it seemed inevitable that he would get it and be inducted into the Hall of Fame. It also seemed likely that he would win the Frick award before any Mariner player would be enshrined in Cooperstown. However, even though in many ways this moment had been coming for years, it does not take away from the magnitude of this achievement. For Niehaus, there may be no greater honor. This award asserts him as a broadcaster for the ages, preserving his legacy at a level beyond the Pacific Northwest.

This is a big deal for the Mariners too. Sure, Gaylord Perry got his 300th win with the Mariners and is in the Hall of Fame, but he was more of a passer-by in franchise history. Dave Niehaus is not. He started with the Angels, but developed into a Frick award-winner as a Mariner. He has been with the franchise from the start. As important as Martinez, Griffey, Buhner, Johnson, Wilson, Moyer, and others have been to this franchise, Niehaus was here before all of them, and is still around now that they are all gone (though I hope Griffey comes back some day). Dave Niehaus is a Mariner and always will be. Truly, having a bona fide Mariner in the Hall of Fame is a major step forward in Mariners' history. It may not show up on the field, but there is a certain level of status that cannot be achieved without someone in the Hall of Fame.

Even though this day has been coming for years, it is still so sweet. As great as a number of the '90s Mariners were, I would not have wanted anybody but Dave Niehaus to be the first Mariner inducted into the Hall of Fame. With signature calls like "My oh my!" he was the first to give this franchise an identity. He has watched all the lows and celebrated all the highs, delivering them to the fans day in and day out in only the way that he can. He was one of the first two members of the Mariners hall of fame, he threw out the first pitch in Safeco Field history, and now he is the first Mariner hall of famer. This is a great honor for a great man that has given so much to the Mariners and the Pacific Northwest. I don't know what else to say besides my oh my. His impending induction speech this summer will be one of the greatest moments in Mariners history.