Aside from my mother in law Linda probably one of the biggest things that sucked me into loving baseball and most importantly the Seattle Mariners was listening the voice of the Mariners Dave Niehaus. Such a big part of being a sports fan for me is listening to the announcers. The truly talented and amazing ones will suck you right in, they will make you feel like you are right there in the game yourself. In my opinion Niehaus is only second to the voice of the Edmonton Oilers Rod Phillips. Phillips is the hall of fame play by play guy on Oilers radio. There are nights when I would rather listen to the game on the radio than listen to the TV announcers. He is amazing. Feel free to click HERE for a little taste of Rod. No one says "HE SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORES!!" quite like Rod. But I digress...Dave Niehaus has been the voice of the Seattle Mariners since the very first pitch back in 1977.
Little did people know back then that he would become one of the greatest of all time. It takes a special person to be able to sit there and capture every moment for you as if you were at the ball park yourself. Those of you who think baseball is boring and has no excitement you are oh so wrong. Listening to Dave Niehaus call a game is all the excitement you need sometimes. One of my favorite calls made by Niehaus is his famous grand slam call. A grand slam for you out there who are baseball virgins is when a HR is hit with men on all 3 bases. NO ONE calls it like Dave does. Click on the link below to hear for yourself.
"Get out the rye bread and mustard Grandma it is grand salami time!!"
Perhaps the greatest moment in Seattle Mariner's history was in the 1995 playoffs when Edgar Martinez hit a game winning double against the New York Yankees. It is this play alone that they say literally saved baseball in Seattle. What makes this moment even greater is listening to Dave make the call.
" I don't believe it, it just continues. MY OH MY!"
For some more audio of some of Dave's great calls click on the links below...
Why you ask am I telling you all this? Well, after being nominated year after year Dave finally was given the honor of winning the Ford C. Frick award which recognizes broadcasters who make major contributions to baseball. Niehaus will receive his award and be inducted into the broadcasters wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York on July 27, 2008.
Congratulations Dave, we look forward to seeing you in Cooperstown this summer.
2 comments:
Well put. Love that guy. An honor well-deserved.
OK...so I am expecting a new post sometime early next week...I'll give you opening day, but soon after that there had better be a really nice Mariner's post, Missy! JK - you do a fabulous job, Evey! GO MARINERS!! WOOHOO!!
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