Rick Rizzs will call his final game Sunday after 41 years in the Mariners broadcast booth.
SEATTLE — Sunday's game between the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels will mark the end of an era that has spanned over four decades.
Longtime broadcaster Rick Rizzs will be calling it a career after beginning his time with the Mariners in 1983. Aside from a three-year stint in the Detroit Tigers broadcast booth from 1992-94, Rizzs has been in the booth every year since.
"This is gonna be rough for me, the next four days," Rizzs said in a news scrum Thursday at T-Mobile Park. "Because it's going to be so happy, so sad at the same time. It's a combination of all these memories I have from 52 years in baseball. ... Greatest thing to ever happen to me was Dave Niehaus. He brought me here in 1983. One of the greatest broadcasters, like I've said, in the history of the game of baseball."
Rizzs decision to retire came after multiple years of mulling over the decision. He considered retiring after the Mariners' run to the American League Championship Series last year.
"When you get close to the end, you think 'do I really want to keep this up?'" Rizz said. " ... I'm ready. I was ready for this a couple years ago. ... It's hard to say goodbye to something you've loved for so long."
Rizzs was brought into the booth and worked alongside legendary late broadcaster Dave Niehaus, who was inducted into Seattle's team Hall of Fame in 2000.
In 2011, a statue was erected inside T-Mobile Park in honor of Niehaus. He's the only non-uniformed member of the Mariners to be inducted into the team's Hall of Fame. Rizzs will join his former broadcast partner in that honor and will be inducted into the Mariners HOF in 2027.
Following Niehaus' death in 2010, Rizzs has kept the HOF broadcaster's legacy alive, echoing the former's popular "grand salami time" catch phrase when a player hits a grand slam. The catch phrase has been echoed by broadcasters, radio and television, across the M's press row.
"I think (Niehaus would be most proud) that I carried on his legacy, No. 1," Rizzs said. "When the bases are loaded and someone hits a home run I still want to get out the rye bread and mustard and somebody yells 'it's grand salami time.' I want kids to remember that this guy was one of the greatest of all time behind a microphone. The way that he painted pictures and told the stories and laughed at his own jokes, he laughed harder than I did but I laughed hard. I hope that he'd be proud of the way that we carried on here for 41 seasons."
In honor of Rizzs' retirement, Seattle will use this weekend to celebrate him.
Friday will feature a "Rick Rizzs fireworks night" after the Mariners game against the Angels. After the team's final game of the season Sunday, Rizzs will speak to Seattle fans after the game. The team will substitute Rizzs' radio broadcast for the ninth inning of the game Sunday on the television broadcast.
This weekend, Rizzs will earn his well-deserved flowers. The only drawback is that the Mariners won't be playing for more.
Seattle was eliminated from playoff contention before its game against Los Angeles on Thursday, officially marking an end to one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history that began with legitimate World Series aspirations.
Throughout the ups and (mostly) downs of the season, Rizzs' near-trademark optimism never deteriorated. The same upbeat attitude that got fans through difficult years, moments and losses remained.
Rizzs' desire to bring joy to people went beyond the game of baseball. More than three decades ago, he and Dave Henderson co-founded the Toys for Kids charity, which provides supplies, clothes and gifts to underprivileged youth in the Pacific Northwest.
Despite the season not going the way most, including Rizzs, thought it would, that optimism didn't waiver.
"I've always been optimistic. I really have," Rizzs said. "I grew up a Cubs fan. It was always 'wait till next year.' But you know what? They finally won. It took 108 years and Jack Brickhouse, who was my hero (and) the Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Cubs, said 'hey, anybody could have a bad century.' Unfortunately, they did. But they eventually won. They got everything done right. And I believe in (president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto) and (general manager Justin Hollander) and the amateur scouting staff and the coaching staff here, the manager. I've always been optimistic. I've always believed ... things get better. If things are going bad, things will be better the next day. You can turn things around."
As for what's next for Rizzs, he plans on enjoying much-earned time with his family and doing some non-work-related traveling. But he won't be away from the Mariners for long.
"I want to spend more time with my grandkids, I got three grandkids," Rizzs said. " ... My oldest is Jaxon, he's (21-years-old), he was here at the ballpark a couple nights ago. My 18-year-old Braedon was here last night. My little girl, who's not so little anymore, she's (11-years-old). A great figure skater over in (Wenatchee, Wash.). I want to spend more time with them, so I'm gonna see her compete in these wonderful tournaments and I want to travel when I want to travel.
"Get on a plane when I want to get on a plane. It's been wonderful, we're totally spoiled the way we travel in the big leagues. But I want to get to Europe. I've never been to Europe. I've been to Japan, Canada, Mexico. But I got to get over there. ... My heart's still here. It will always be here. I'll still go to spring training and spend four weeks down there and just kind of hang out with (Gary Hill Jr.) and (Aaron Goldsmith) and kind of bug them once in a while."
When it comes to Seattle's radio booth, whoever replaces Rizzs will have shoes that might be too big to fill. And the team will have a tall task trying to find a suitable replacement for the 40-year play-by-play man.
Rizzs, in his ever-charitable view, wants whoever's next to receive the same opportunity that he did when he was brought on by Niehaus all those years ago.
"I'd love to see a young person come in here to work with Gary, to work with Aaron, (Angie Mentink) and (Ryan Rowland-Smith)," Rizzs said. "That's what Dave Niehaus did for me. That's how we get to the big leagues, by going to the minor leagues and paying our dues. ... There's so much talent in the minor leagues. You need to find one of those kids that are ready, guy or girl, able to come in here and get an opportunity to be a big league announcer like Dave Niehaus and the Mariners did for me 44 years ago."
