Long summer nights with the Seattle Mariners on the radio are a rite of passage in the Pacific Northwest.
The Mariners have created generations of cherished memories over its 50 years at bat. Whether you watched Ken Griffey Jr. at the Kingdome, just started following them as Big Dumper broke records, or stuck with the team during its 20-year playoff drought, when you think of the Mariners, chances are that the voice of Rick Rizzs is embedded in those moments.
“Holy smokes!” Rizzs will exclaim into a microphone as Seattle’s baseball team scores or hits one out of the park.
Rizzs is the longest-tenured broadcaster in Mariners history, putting in 41 years with the team. He started with the Mariners back in 1983. After a brief stint in Detroit, he returned to Seattle in 1995.
Earlier this year, Rizzs announced that the 2026 season would be his last at the mic. He is retiring — goodbye baseball.
Baseball broadcaster Rick Rizzs talks with Ken Griffey Sr. about Mariners baseball at T-Mobile Park.
Rizzs grew up with the game, playing in a sandlot behind his childhood home in Chicago. Even as a kid, his goal was to be above the field as a voice for baseball.
“I remember listening on the radio … how Jack Brickhouse, the Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs, and Bob Elson the outstanding broadcaster for the White Sox, made it sound like I was there,” Rizzs said. “I could picture Wrigley Field long before I got there because of Mr. Brickhouse. And I wrote him a letter when I was 12 years old. I said, ‘I wanna be a Major League broadcaster just like you. How do I do it?’ And he wrote me back a letter. I had that letter forever … this is 1965, I’m 12 years old, and he told me what you would tell any 12-year-old kid: work hard, believe in yourself, and all that.”
That hard work started by going down into his basement to watch every baseball game he could on TV, with the sound off. He provided his own game narration and commentary. He eventually majored in radio and TV at Southern Illinois University before spending eight years working in the minor leagues. Then Dave Niehaus, the original voice of the Seattle Mariners, brought Rizzs to Seattle.
“I just love the guy,” Rizzs said of Niehaus. “… I had a chance to go to the Angels my second year. I said no because I wanted to stay with [Dave Niehaus]. I had a chance to go my third year to the Chicago White Sox, and I said no because I didn’t wanna be bouncing around. I wanted to be in one place for a long time, and I wanted to be with Dave Niehaus, who taught me the ropes. He made it fun to go to the ballpark every day. We had a blast on the radio. We joked around. We had a great time. We did our jobs, but he did it as well as anybody, the great storyteller that he was and painting the pictures. So, I just wanted to get established in a community, and I think I’ve done that for 41 years.”
As he plans his retirement, Rizzs doesn’t think he’ll be far from T-Mobile Park. He intends to be in the stands with fans, and a cold beverage in hand.
Actually, he has a lot of plans.
“Mostly, I’m gonna spend more time with my grandkids. I have three grandkids … and more time for me. I’m 72 years old. I worked with guys that have gone a long, long, long, long time, and I just wanna enjoy the rest of my life.”
“I wanna travel when I wanna travel,” he said. “You know, I’ve been traveling for 52 years. Eight years in the minor leagues on a bus, 18 hours from Memphis to Orlando. I’m never gonna do that again. I wanna get to Europe. I wanna go to Italy. All my relatives are from Italy. I wanna go to Rome, meet the pope. He’s from Chicago, Robert Francis, he’s Pope Leo. And I wanna eat my way across the country.”
And despite living the life of a retiree with an “I’m just gonna relax” attitude, Rizzs says he plans to continue his support of the Mariners, in any way they need.
“I still wanna work for the team, anything they need me to do, I’ll do it,” Rizzs said. “I’ll be part of the alumni group or whatever. But whatever they want me to do, I’ll do it because I grew up in Chicago, but Seattle’s my home.”
KUOW’s Dyer Oxley contributed to this article.
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