Mariners Radio Team Remaining The Same In 2012

All this time I thought you were just doing it out of the goodness of your heart because you love Mariner fans. I feel used.

This isn’t like when Rizzs had to follow Harwell in Detroit. Rick’s been part of the M’s family longer than almost anyone except Dave. And when you pair him with someone that complements his personality and perspective, like his great rapport with Ken Levine, you get a really engaging broadcast.

Also, I have to say I’m not nearly as down on some of the announcers as others. Not even Dave Sims, who’s caused me to use the SAP button more than once (which I recommend from time to time – gives the game a kind of world cup soccer feel).

Believe me, get a Sirius/XM subscription for a season and listen to some of the broadcasters in other cities. I had no idea how good we had it until I heard a couple of bland Rangers, Athletics or White Sox games. Though I do like the delivery of some of the Blue Jays and Red Sox announcers.

Anyway. In my opinion, have Rizzs and Levine on the radio, Ken Wilson and Mike Blowers on TV, and call it a day.

both on Root Sports and on the radio. Especially Dave Sims, who I wasn’t completely sold on beforehand. I’m glad they’re sticking with the same thing for now.

I’m not sure if Fairly is senile or just doesn’t give a shit, but some of the things he says are just horrible (at one point last season, while listing the 5 tools a baseball prospect needs he listed hitting 3 times).

Hendu and Valle on the other hand are just insufferable, neither of them are particularly great broadcasters and they are both insane on top of it (I am so tired of hearing about how pitchers aren’t athletes).

The rest are all fine, although Levine is the best in my opinion but that has less to do with him being a good baseball broadcaster than it does with the fact that he is just hilarious no matter what he is talking about.

And it’s worse because he’s on the radio. With TV, if you don’t like the announcer you can always turn off the sound and just watch the game. But if you are in your car and want to follow the game, it’s Rizzs. And all he does is provide rah rah platitudes. He doesn’t know anything about baseball and whatever he happens to say detracts from your understanding of the game, the team and the situation. Brutal.

He’s not Dave, but no one is. I am not a fan of Sims, but any combination of the above-mentioned individuals is orders of magnitude better than the White Sox or Yankees teams. My word, are baseball fans in those towns eternally patient or just ignorant of how bad they have it?

I have heard maybe five innings of Yankees broadcast. In that small sample, I heard Sterling:
- completely enraptured to embarrassing levels because Jeter executed a 6-3
- ordering a car to the hotel because he didn’t know they were live
No one on our team comes close to such nonsense, except for Fairly. Does anyone else remember him wondering aloud for a whole at-bat why Joey Cora was wearing #82 on his wristbands, and who it might be a tribute to? (Of course, it was Cora’s number 28 upside down).

Rizz abd Levine work so well together, and I really like Ken’s voice. And yes, Rick Rizz is THE voice of the Mariners.

That’s gotta be lingering misplaced anger at Niehaus passing. Dude’s the closest thing we’ve got to a real announcer.

Hendo is wretched and Dave Sims isn’t much better. Really wish they’d do something else for the TV broadcast.

I wish Dave Sims would get over all his funny East Coast stories. not all of us find battery hurling Yankee fans to be lovable hooligans. And I don’t care how cold the Hawk’s wind is in Chicago or about a legendary Nor’easter either. He just needs to attend an introductory class in Northwest Anecdotes. Maybe it’s just me.

But he’s doing too many other cool things to get bogged down with too much broadcasting I’m sure. Meanwhile, while we’re talking about broadcasters, I truly hate Dave Sims. I actually went out of my way for the past few years to listen to the ball games on the radio because listening to him was a worse fate than not being able to watch the games. I wish he’d go away. I know there’s no chance of it though.

I don’t think they would necessarily be great at broadcasting the game, but I always enjoy it when they start talking to each other in incomprehensible baseball jargon.

There is a reason they ran him out of Detriot. He is terrible. He rode the great Dave Neihaus’ coat tails for years. I feel like my entire adult life has been spent trying to avoid his prattle. I though that the Mariners brass finally realized that he was awful a few years ago when they banished him to the radio side.

Rizzs in Seattle and Curto in Tacoma is akin to keeping Edgar Martinez in AAA for 3 years to long. The only person in the organization who is worse at his job than Rizzs is Chone Figgins.

Why not Calabro? He used to be the interim broadcaster whenever Niehaus was on vacation, and I thought he did a decent enough job.

I bet Rizzs has a few little girls locked up in the basement and I can’t handle anymore, when I was with A’s stories from Hendu.

…was when he invited everyone to skip school/work to come to the ball park and he said if you would message him on Twitter, he’d write and excuse for your boss/wife/teacher that said he needed your help in the broadcast booth. I messaged him and he wrote back with an excuse for my boss. I thought it was hilarious.

I loved it.

I love Levine, but he gets a little tiring after a while.

I would rather Curto take over the duties if he wants to. He is knowledgeable, likable, and is far more familiar with the team than any of the other commentators.

And since Dave’s service, I now have a soft spot for Rizz. To see him openly weep was one of the most honest moments I have ever seen on T.V.

If Dave was like a grandfather (he was for me, as I knew him far better than either of mine), Rizz is like an uncle. I also have to admit to our similar ancestry, and love for Italian food.

I would be terrified of doing play by play, it would be a lot of awkward pauses and “what the hell are they doing!” type of comments. Harry Carey probably had a reason to drink

Love Levine’s enthusiasm.

Love Wilson’s voice.

Hate Fairly. Baseball for Dummies every inning.

Hate Rizzs, on which I will elaborate. Rizzs is a by the numbers announcer. He simply cannot function without his game notes. If the game was good, Niehaus would forget anything but the game, just announce what was on the field. If the game was boring, he’d tell stories. Rizzs, on the other hand, has to run down his checklist every game, and usually repeat the same thing three or four times, none of which are germane to the game (“who can forget the 1975 Series between the Sox and the Reds?” “Nolan Ryan has his pitchers stretching out by pitching more innings early in the season.”) and he puts them in regardless of game situation. I’m reminded of the Douglas Adams quote, “If they don’t keep exercising their lips their brains will start.” Silence was Niehaus’s genius. Rizzs wouldn’t know silence if it slapped him in the face.

Hendu is really the only one I can’t stand. Wilson is a little boring but not too bad.

I actually like Fairly even though he halfway senile. Maybe I’ve heard his voice so much that its just kind of a comforting white noise.

The new guys were good.

Buhner technically is still pretty awful in the booth but has gotten a lot better and like mentioned above can be pretty interesting at times. Definitely most likely to say fuck, shit or damn on the air. Also the most likely to hoot, holler or scream like a girl when the Mariners win. If the M’s are good then a competent announcer is probably good but if we have to go through another long and boring year then at least I would like some crazy announcer (not Hendu though).

What a fantastic voice.