Rest in peace, Dave Niehaus. The Mariners voice for 33 years died of a heart attack the evening of Nov. 10. He was 75 years young. He was an idol of mine for all of those years; I always enjoyed listening to the play-by-play guys since I was old enough to work my AM radio. When I was a kid I did a pretty mean impression of Howard Cosell, and at my first Trailblazer game my first autograph was not for a Blazer, but for Blazer play-by-play man Bill Schonely.
Mr.Niehaus made that radio come alive, even when the Mariners were getting their butts kicked all over the Kingdome. And he will be missed.
I still get chills from listening to his call of the 1995 A.L. championship game. We had no chance against the evil-empire New York Yankees. The Mariners never gave up, played their hearts out, and Mr.Niehaus gave us one of the great calls in history.
“Right now, the Mariners are looking for the tie. They would take a fly ball, they would love a base hit into the gap and they could win it with Junior’s speed. The stretch … and the 0-1 pitch on the way to Edgar Martinez, swung on and LINED DOWN THE LEFT-FIELD LINE FOR A BASE HIT! HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE; THEY’RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE … LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON’T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY!”
Mr. Niehaus was a professional in every sense of the word. He wasn’t a “Homer,” an annoying play-by-play man who openly roots for his team in the press box. He was subtle, cool, and loved the Mariners, even when they got smoked like a salmon here or on the road.
He always gave the other team its credit, win or lose. And when they finally started to win in 1995, Mr. Niehaus told us all about it by breaking out the rye bread-and-mustard grandma, because it’s grand salami time. When Griffey Jr. or Jay Buhner, or Randy Johnson or Edgar Martinez, did something extraordinary, well “My Oh My.” A simple down home phrase, because that’s what Dave Niehaus was, a baseball fan who just happened to be the voice of the Mariners.
Mr. Niehaus, you gave the state of Washington and baseball fans everywhere goose bumps for 33 years. You will be missed.
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