Rick Rizzs (born November 17, 1953) is an American sportscaster and is the lead radio voice for

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

Early life and career

Rizzs is from

Blue Island, Illinois Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,55 ...

, where he attended Eisenhower High School, and he is a 1975 graduate of

Southern Illinois University Southern Illinois University is a system of public universities in the southern region of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its headquarters is in Carbondale, Illinois. Board of trustees The university is governed by the nine member SIU Board of Tr ...

in Carbondale. From 1975 to 1980, he handled

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

play-by-play In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

duties at the double-A level for

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for " yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall Cou ...

and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

. He became the sports director at WBNS radio in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

in 1981, where he called

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and triple-A baseball for two seasons. He was named the

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

"Sportscaster of the Year" in 1981 by the Ohio Sportscasters Association.

Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers

Beginning in 1983, Rizzs broadcast Mariners games along with

Dave Niehaus David Arnold Niehaus (February 19, 1935 – November 10, 2010) was an American sportscaster. He was the lead play-by-play announcer for the American League's Seattle Mariners from their inaugural season in until his death after the 2010 season ...

. In 1992, Rizzs moved to WJR in Detroit as the sports director, and assumed duties as the new radio play-by-play voice of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. The previous announcer, Ernie Harwell, who had been with the Tigers since the 1960 season, had been fired in late 1991. Harwell's dismissal was not at all popular with fans; teaming with Bob Rathbun (also in his first year with the team, replacing Paul Carey, who retired) proved difficult and both were let go after the end of the 1994 season. Rizzs returned to Seattle, where he remains to this day. In 2000, Rizzs was named the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

-area sportscaster of the year by the Chicago Pitch and Hit Club. Although he previously broadcast Mariners games on both television and radio, Rizzs was transferred prior to the 2007 season to work exclusively on Mariners radio broadcasts. For the first three innings, he was accompanied by Dave Sims, who was hired prior to the 2007 season, and for the remainder of the game he was accompanied by the late

(as Sims and Niehaus switched positions after the third inning). Rizzs did play-by-play for the first three and one-half innings, and again in the 7th inning. In games that went to extra innings, Rizzs did the play-by-play for the even-numbered innings. With the death of Niehaus on November 10, 2010, Rizzs became the Mariners lead radio voice. During the 2011-2012 seasons, Rizzs did broadcasts of Mariners baseball with a rotation of guest color commentators, including former Mariners Dan Wilson and

Jay Buhner Jay Campbell Buhner (born August 13, 1964), nicknamed "Bone", is an American former professional baseball right fielder. At and , he was among the most recognizable players of his day, noted for his shaved head, thick goatee, and patch of pine t ...

, and former Mariners announcers Ron Fairly, Ken Wilson, Ken Levine, and

Dave Valle David Valle (; born October 30, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Texas Rangers from to . He attended ...

. In January 2013, it was announced Rizzs' new radio partner would be Aaron Goldsmith, formerly of the

Pawsox Radio Network The Pawsox Radio Network was the radio network of the Pawtucket Red Sox, a Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. There were 12 stations (nine A.M. and three F.M.) and three F.M. translators in the network, including the flag ...

. His partner Goldsmith does the play-by-play for the 3rd, 6th, and 7th inning, as well as even innings when the game goes into extra innings.

Notable catchphrases

Rizzs is noted for using the following

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s on Mariner broadcasts: "''Goodbye baseball!''"- used on home run calls. "''Holy smoke(s)!''"/"''How about that?"''- used for exciting plays. "''Get out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma, it is grand salami time! Holy smokes!''"- used when the Mariners get a grand slam. Formerly used (except for Holy smokes!) by his longtime radio partner Dave Niehaus. "''Grandma, get out the rye bread and mustard, it is grand salami time!"''- alternative grand slam call made by Rizzs. "''How about that, buddy?''"- also used after a Mariners player hit a grand slam, in honor of his longtime broadcaster partner/friend Dave Niehaus. "''Happy totals"''- used during the postgame when the Mariners win the ballgame, now taken over by Aaron Goldsmith. It was originally used by Chicago Cubs broadcasters in the 1970s.

Personal life

Rizzs resides in

Issaquah, Washington Issaquah ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 40,051 at the 2020 census. Located in a valley and bisected by Interstate 90, the city is bordered by the Sammamish Plateau to the north and the " Issaquah Al ...

. He has one son, Nick, two grandsons, Jaxon and Braedon, and one granddaughter, Ryan. Rizzs also provided the commentary for the 2005

Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

game '' Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball'', but the game's U.S. release was canceled. With former Mariner player

Dave Henderson David Lee Henderson (July 21, 1958 – December 27, 2015), nicknamed "Hendu", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athleti ...

, Rizzs co-founded a charity that provides Christmas gifts to children.

References

External links

Seattle Mariners
– Broadcasters
Interview with Rizzs about the 1995 Mariners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzs, Rick 1953 births American sports announcers College football announcers Detroit Tigers announcers Living people Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters Ohio State Buckeyes football announcers People from Blue Island, Illinois People from Issaquah, Washington Seattle Mariners announcers Southern Illinois University alumni