Knowing that it’s not possible to replace the late Dave Niehaus, the Seattle Mariners have altered the makeup of their play-by-play announcing team for 2011 that creates a separation between the radio and TV booths.
Instead of replacing Niehaus with a single person to fill his void, the
Mariners will primarily use five men who’ve worked Mariners games over the years — Ron Fairly, Ken Levine, Ken Wilson, Dave Valle and Dan Wilson — on a rotating basis as partners in the radio booth with lead announcer Rick Rizzs. Former Mariner Jay Buhner also may be part of some broadcasts, although plans haven’t been finalized.
There will be minimal crossover by the announcers from the radio to TV sides than in the past, when Niehaus would jump back and forth each game. This year, Rizzs will spend nearly all of his time on the radio side while Dave Sims and Mike Blowers will be the main announcer/analyst duo on the TV side.
Randy Adamack, the Mariners’ vice president of communications, said the new arrangement is the result of numerous meetings and suggestions, including many from fans, since Niehaus died Nov. 10.
“The first thing we tried to do was get away from the idea that we were going to replace Dave Niehaus,” Adamack said. “That’s not something that’s doable and it’s not easy for somebody to walk in and assume that position.
“The other part is that for so many years, Dave had gone back and forth between radio and TV. It made sense to have Dave do both. But it was clear from talking to our TV and radio partners, and going with our own gut, that it’s better to go with separate announcing teams now. That’s the way most teams do it, and there’s more consistency that way.”
FSN Northwest, which will be known as Root Sports by the time the regular season begins April 1, carries the Mariners’ TV games and ESPN Seattle 710 AM is flagship of the radio network.
Adamack said more than 100 announcers contacted the Mariners after Niehaus’ death.
“There were a lot of minor league announcers and there were major league announcers,” he said. “There were people we know and people we didn’t know.”
With Rizzs, Sims and Blowers already under contract for 2011, the Mariners and their broadcast partners decided it would be best to fill the void with play-by-play men and analysts who had worked on Mariners’ broadcasts in the past and were familiar to fans.
Ken Wilson worked alongside Niehaus from the Mariners’ first season in 1977 to 1982.
Fairly, a former major leaguer, worked with Niehaus and Rizzs from 1993-2006.
Levine, who brought considerable wit to Mariners broadcasts from 1992-95, will shuttle between Seattle and his Southern California home to mix his M’s duties with his job as host of the Dodger Talk postgame radio show. As a writer, director and producer based in L.A., Levine has worked on such TV series as MASH, Cheers, Frasier, The Simpsons, Wings, Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker and Dharma & Greg.
Valle has extensive experience as a radio analyst since he retired as a player in 1996, and Dan Wilson has worked several games since he retired in 2005.
Adamack said the broadcast arrangement this year may be a transition to a setup that could be different in the future. The radio contract with ESPN Seattle 710 expires after the 2011 season.
“All of those people we talked to were very interested in being part of this process and the team,” Adamack said. “The familiarity the fans have with these announcers might make it a smooth transition from 2010 to 2011 and beyond.”
Read Kirby Arnold’s blog on the Mariners at www.heraldnet.com/marinersblog and his Twitter updates at @kirbyarnold.
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