‘Mariners will need the mojo to win this series,’ legendary broadcaster says

“New York” Vinnie Richichi is a legendary broadcaster from the ’90s and early 2000s. You may remember N.Y. Vinnie as a host of Mariners pre and post-game shows on the Mariners radio network and KIRO AM and FM. He was a weekend sports anchor for FOX 13 Seattle, and worked on-air at FOX Sports Net Northwest.

Vinnie has been a Mariners fan ever since he set foot in the Northwest. He currently does a talk show with Michael Knight on Facebook and hosts a local radio program on cars. Vinnie is from Jackson Heights in New York City and when he’s not watching the Mariners, he’s rooting for the New York Mets.

He sat down with MyNorthwest on Monday to talk Mariners.

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MyNorthwest: What was your favorite Mariners moment?

New York Vinnie: “Of all the playoff moments, I have to think that 2000 was really kind of the one that brought it together because nobody expected them to really make the playoffs that year. They had a bad year, the year before. But they made some nice additions. And that was also the year that Alex Rodriguez said that I brought him good luck. I brought the team good luck. By rubbing my belly. They would rub my belly before games.”

MyNW: What teams would you compare this year’s Mariners to?

NY Vinnie: “I really think that this year’s Mariner team compares a lot to the 2000 team. You know, the 2001 team, of course, went 116 games, but there was something about that 2000 team. They had a struggle. They hit a really rough spot toward the end of the year, where we weren’t even sure if they were going to make the playoffs. As a matter of fact, we were all in Anaheim on the final night of the final weekend of the season, not even really knowing where the Mariners were going to go. Or if they were going to make the playoffs. A couple of teams had to lose. And then the Mariners had to win. And finally, on that final day of the season in Anaheim, they found out that we were going to go to Cleveland, and play the Indians in the first round. And that’s where we and everybody in the club had to scramble to get there.”

MyNW: Why was that?

NY Vinnie: “Well, because there were so many pieces that had to come together. If this team won, we would have had to go somewhere else. If another team won we would have had to go to another place. So it really was crazy. I remember that final weekend. Alvin Davis had joined us – Mr. Mariner – in the broadcast booth. And it was just, it was nuts. And Alvin said, stay calm, guys, it’s all gonna happen. He had a lot of faith that it was gonna happen. But I think a lot of other people did.”

MyNW: As objectively as you can be, who’s going to win this series?

NY Vinnie: “It’s tough, man. The Astros got pitching. The Astros have hitting. They have home field advantage. I want to think and I want to feel the Mariners have the Mojo, the baseball Gods on their side. And in a short series, the pitching is really going to help you out a lot. It’s gonna carry a lot. But as we saw with Robbie Ray, there’s a guy that it just doesn’t seem like he can put it where he needs to get it to beat other teams right now and he picked the worst time in the world not to be good. I’m gonna have to say, the ride more than likely will end here. I hate to say it, you know because I really want them to win. But you said objectively and that’s the cool thing about this, you’re able to enjoy this as a fan instead of really working. So you know, I can root and I can cheer and I can feel. So the fan in me says the Mariners will win, but the baseball observer, the media guy in me says that the Astros will prevail here.”