For more than three decades, the mellow rumble and smooth cadence of the Seattle Mariners' lead broadcaster has been a welcome guest in homes around the Northwest, including much of Montana, and provided background conversation for thousands of summer barbecues and family trips.
On July 27, Niehaus will enter another home in Cooperstown, N.Y., this one reserved for the very best in his business - the broadcasters' wing of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
It's a feeling the native of Princeton, Ind., still finds overwhelming.
“It's the greatest honor anybody in my business can receive. It's our Academy Award. It's our Oscar,” Niehaus said Monday as the Mariners prepared to wrap up spring training in this suburb of Phoenix.
“In my wildest dreams I didn't expect it,” Niehaus said. “I didn't even know it was the day they were going to pick the winner (when a Hall of Fame official called to congratulate him). I did know that over the last few years I had been one of the finalists, but I didn't pay any attention to it. I didn't want to get my hopes up.”
That the phone rang on Niehaus' 73rd birthday made it that much sweeter.
“I got the call from Dale Petroskey, who's the president of the Hall of Fame,” Niehaus said of Petroskey, who resigned his post on Tuesday. “I had just gotten out of the shower, and he said, ‘We'd like to welcome you to the Hall of Fame family.' I said, ‘You realize this is my birthday? Somebody might be pulling a joke on me.' ”
But it wasn't a joke. And even though Niehaus says he has a good sense of humor, it's a serious honor that he still enjoys talking about.
“How can you get tired of talking about it,” he said. “I haven't given that much thought to the speech I'm going to give, but whatever it is it will be coming from the heart.
“I do know that the number one entity I will be thanking will be the people of the Northwest, including up there in Montana, because without them I wouldn't be going into the Hall of Fame.
“People up there have been phenomenal to me. A few years ago (2004), they started electronic voting for this, and the first or second year I was overwhelmingly the top choice because of the fans who voted for me.”
His determined effort to connect with listeners is certainly one reason Niehaus is so popular, particularly amongst those who rely on him and the Mariners for much of their entertainment.
“I look at myself as sitting in a living room telling stories,” Niehaus said. “I am always aware of the shut-ins, the people in hospitals, because you're their lifeline. They look forward to you six months out of the year more than anything else. They've got that time of the day when the Mariners are on. That's a big part of their life.
“I've been fortunate enough to receive several awards during my career, but one I am most proud of is the one the Washington Society of the Blind gave me, because they said the blind could see the game through my eyes. All they have is the radio. They don't have television, and when I can describe the game to a sightless person and they can enjoy it, then I think that I'm doing my job.”
Being a good storyteller is something most young broadcasters today struggle with, Niehaus said.
“(One of the problems) is that they are trained through television and not through radio,” he said. “They don't have to use the language. They see what's on that rectangular screen, and they don't think of anything else.”
That doesn't mean young announcers should try to copy the greats either, he said.
“The worst mistake any young kid who wants to be a broadcaster - a number one broadcaster - can make is to emulate anybody. You have to develop your own personality. Don't try to be Vin Scully, don't try to be Harry Caray, don't copy anybody. Develop your own style, and that's the way you become known. There are so many Vin Scully sound-alikes, and a lot of people can tell immediately. You don't want to do that.”
It's advice Niehaus followed himself when he went into broadcasting.
“(Harry Caray) influenced my love of the game more than anything else,” Niehaus said. “Š But Caray was more critical than I am. He would ride people. I don't ride people. I mean, errors are part of the game. The only thing that I can't stand, and I will point out, is lack of hustle. If you're not hustling, I'll say something.”
While being willing to occasionally criticize has sometimes put him in the crosshairs of players, Niehaus maintains a strong relationship with many he has covered.
“There have been so many great players,” Niehaus said. “One of my good friends is Nolan Ryan. Ken Griffey was one of the first to call me and congratulate me (on entering the Hall of Fame). I don't think there's ever been, at the height of his career, an athlete whose feats I've enjoyed describing more. Š He was always spectacular.”
Keeping the game interesting to listeners was a challenge for Niehaus in his early years with the Mariners, who did not finish .500 or better in their first 15 seasons - a dubious record for any team in any professional sport that still stands.
It was even more of a challenge because until midway through the 1999 season, Seattle played its games in what amounted to a giant cement tub - the featureless Kingdome.
“I was doing laboratory baseball Š when we were in the Kingdome. No wind, no sun, no rain, no nothing. It was what it was,” Niehaus said. “I didn't really get a chance to call the elements until you went out on the road and got the snow and the wind.”
Even though the Mariners spent their darkest years in the Kingdome, they also had their brightest moment there in 1995, which culminated with a remarkable run to the playoffs that very well could have saved baseball in Seattle.
With the team trailing the Anaheim Angels by 11fi games in late August and a vote going before Seattle-area residents to fund a new baseball stadium, the Mariners charged through September, eventually winning the American League West in a one-game playoff with the Angels.
Then, after falling behind the New York Yankees 2-0 in a best-of-five wild-card playoff series, Seattle returned home and won the next two games to set the stage for what Niehaus says is the most electrifying moment of his broadcasting career.
“Coming home (down 2-0 from New York) you knew that the season was over. It was the most silent flight I've ever had in my life,” he said. “I'll never forget, in the playoffs in New York, the Yankees had Yogi Berra throw out the first pitch. And in Seattle they had me throw out the first pitch. I said, ‘My god, what is this?' Can you imagine having Yogi Berra and then Dave Niehaus throw out the first pitch? I really thought that was funny.”
What happened in Game 5 of the series, however, was serious entertainment for M's fans.
Down by a run in the bottom of the 11th inning, Edgar Martinez ripped a double down the left-field line to score Joey Cora and then Griffey all the way from first base to win the game. The Kingdome turned into bedlam, and despite the fact Seattle would fall to Cleveland in the AL Championship Series, the season vaulted the team to prominence in the Northwest, and the baseball-only stadium was approved by voters.
“The seminal moment in Mariner history will be the Edgar Martinez double in 1995, and I was just fortunate enough to be on the air at that particular time,” Niehaus said. “Even if this ballclub wins the World Series, I don't think there will ever be another moment like that double.”
Now safely ensconced at Safeco Field, the Mariners, who open the season Monday at home against the Texas Rangers, are considered a leading contender for the AL West title in 2008. And despite the thousands of miles of travel required to be a big league broadcaster, Niehaus is happy to be along for the ride.
“I really enjoy the constant beat of it,” he said. “Being able to go to the ballpark. Quite frankly, I'd probably be there anyway. Maybe not every day, but I'd be there a lot. I don't feel like I've had to work a day in my life, to tell you the truth, because I'm such a fan and enjoy it so much.”
And Niehaus says he plans to be in his booth behind home plate for years to come.
“I'm going to be there as long as I enjoy it,” he said. “I'll probably call a home run Š ‘And it will fly away!' and I'll be the one flying away.”
After entering so many homes in such fine fashion over the years, you probably couldn't ask for a better exit.
Mariners in Montana
Across the state, Dave Niehaus and the Seattle Mariners can be heard on KGRZ 1450 AM in Missoula, KSAM 1240 AM in Kalispell, KXGF 1400 AM in Great Falls, KXTL 1370 AM in Butte, and KBLG 910 AM in Billings.
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