‘I’m going to be a wreck’: Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs reflects on last road trip before retirement

Rick Rizzs is on a road trip one last time.

The longtime voice of the Seattle Mariners left this week for what will be the final road series of a broadcasting career that began 52 years ago in a minor league clubhouse in Alexandria, Louisiana, where he washed uniforms, shined shoes, and survived on leftover concession-stand hot dogs.

“A lot of memories are going through my mind right now,” Rizzs said Friday on KIRO Newsradio’s “Seattle’s Morning News.” “I’m in a hotel room. It’s my first road trip in a long time. My last road trip in the big leagues with the Mariners.”

The Mariners open a series Friday against the Oakland A’s in Sacramento, where the A’s play in a minor league stadium. Seattle, still six games back in the American League West, needs every win it can get against teams with records below .500.

Rizzs, 72, announced in January that the 2026 season would be his last behind the microphone, ending 41 years with the Mariners and more than five decades in professional baseball. He was originally hired in 1983 to work alongside Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Niehaus, a partnership that lasted 25 years.

“You’re talking about the luckiest guy on the face of the earth, along with Lou Gehrig when he made his speech way back when,” Rizzs said.

The Mariners plan to honor Rizzs during the final homestand with a farewell weekend against the Angels. A fireworks show is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 25; he will throw out the first pitch Saturday, and the regular season closes Sunday afternoon with what will be his final game.

Rizzs will be inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame during the 2027 season, joining Niehaus as the only broadcasters so honored by the franchise.

But before the emotions of the final homestand arrive, there is still baseball to call, and Rizzs likes what he’s been seeing.

Rizzs sees a complete team emerging as Mariners chase the AL West

The Mariners took two straight from the Texas Rangers this week behind dominant pitching performances from Logan Gilbert, who struck out 11 over seven innings, and Jacob deGrom, who fanned 12 in six. Julio Rodriguez broke a game open with a three-run home run, and small-ball plays — Cal Raleigh advancing to second on a popup to the catcher, Cole Young’s heads-up force play to end a game — have given the stretch run a pulse.

“That’s what has to happen: a complete game — pitching, defense, and the offense,” Rizzs said.

He was especially animated about the organization’s young talent. Outfielder Lázaro Montes, called up with 38 home runs in the minors, recently launched the longest home run in T-Mobile Park history, 474 feet to right-center field.

“This guy’s a stud,” Rizzs said. “He plays the game with the joy that we saw Ken Griffey Jr. when he was 19 years of age.”

Montes drew a walk in his first major league plate appearance at Fenway Park, collected an RBI single for his first hit, and homered to straightaway center in the same game, all in just five career games.

Rizzs also praised infielder Michael Arroyo, a line-drive hitter who signed as an international free agent alongside Montes in 2022, and right-hander Kade Anderson, who earned his first big-league victory just a year removed from pitching in the College World Series for LSU.

“The future is bright for this organization,” Rizzs said. “Our scouting department is amazing.”

Rizzs began his career in 1975, earning $200 a month calling three innings of play-by-play for a minor league club in Alexandria, Louisiana. Now, 52 years later, his final road trip opens in another minor league park.

“I guess what goes around comes around,” he said.

“I’m going to be a wreck at the end of the regular season,” Rizzs added. “But I’m ready for the next chapter in my life. I really am.”

Manda Factor is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X and email her here. 

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