Mariners broadcaster Niehaus to be inducted into Hall of Fame
Published 5:32 pm Tuesday, February 19, 2008
SEATTLE — Dave Niehaus, who has been the voice of the Seattle Mariners throughout the team’s 31-year history, will be inducted into the broadcasters’ wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Niehaus was chosen as the 2008 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcast excellence. He will be honored during the Hall of Fame induction ceremony July 27, at Cooperstown, N.Y. The announcement Tuesday came on Niehaus’ 73rd birthday.
“Dave Niehaus is the heartbeat of Mariners baseball. Since Day One, he has painted a picture of baseball and summer in Seattle better than anyone ever has,” Dale Petroskey, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said in a news release.
Niehaus worked with the California Angels from 1969-1976 and joined the expansion Mariners in 1977. He was inducted in 2000 into the Mariners’ Hall of Fame. He has broadcast all but 82 of the Mariners’ 4,899 games played.
Niehaus is known for his signature calls “My, oh my” for big plays, and “It will fly away” for home runs.
Niehaus will be honored at Cooperstown along with 2008 J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner, the late Larry Whiteside, of the Boston Globe.
The annual Frick Award is named in memory of the sportswriter, radio broadcaster, National League president and baseball commissioner.
