Rick Rizzs reflects on 9/11, Legacy Plaza statue as Mariners broadcaster enters final weeks behind the mic

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 attacks brought the nation and its pastime to a standstill, the Seattle Mariners on Thursday unveiled Legacy Plaza at T-Mobile Park, a bronze statue of outfielders Mike Cameron and Mark McLemore raising an American flag after the 2001 club clinched the AL West — just eight days after the towers fell.

Retiring broadcaster Rick Rizzs, who emceed the dedication ceremony, was still stirred when he joined KIRO Newsradio’s “Seattle’s Morning News” on Friday to relive the moment.

“Dave Niehaus called me up on 9/11 at 7 in the morning, and I’m asleep, and he’s yelling at me, ‘Turn on the TV set,'” Rizzs said. “I said, ‘What channel, Dave?’ He said, ‘Any channel.’ And we watched in horror.”

Rizzs, 72, recalled being stranded in Anaheim for three days before the Mariners could fly home. When baseball resumed, Seattle clinched on Sept. 19, but there was no champagne celebration. Instead, the players gathered at the mound for a prayer. Then a flag appeared.

“Mark McLemore was there along with Mike Cameron with a flag, and it was amazing,” Rizzs said. “Forty-five thousand people just crying. Mike Cameron yesterday was crying. He came out to the ballpark to dedicate the beautiful statue, and he was fighting back tears. He still remembered that day.”

The statue, sculpted by Lou Cella — the artist behind the park’s monuments to Niehaus, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Ichiro Suzuki — anchors the new plaza just inside the center-field gate. The original flag from 2001 is encased nearby.

Where the 2026 Mariners stand with just September baseball left

Rizzs pivoted from remembrance to the present, where the 2026 Mariners face a September reckoning. Seattle entered Friday six games behind Houston in the AL West and 4.5 games back of the final wild-card berth with 21 games remaining, coming off a frustrating 7-4 loss to Oakland in which the club struck out 18 times.

“What you do or don’t do in April and May tells you what you have to do in September,” Rizzs said. “Now the Mariners have to win, and they have to have help with Houston losing. And right now, they’re not losing.”

The remaining schedule offers at least a theoretical lifeline. Seattle will spend much of September facing the Athletics, Angels, and Rockies, three of baseball’s weakest clubs. But Rizzs cautioned that favorable matchups still demand execution.

“They had 12 hits a couple of days ago in Boston and scored eight, nine runs,” he said. “Right now they can’t afford any setbacks.”

Amid Thursday’s loss, center fielder Julio Rodríguez provided a historic bright spot. The 25-year-old swiped three bases, his 18th, 19th and 20th of the season, to become the first player in Major League history to record five consecutive 20-homer, 20-stolen base seasons to open a career.

“This kid has been something,” Rizzs said. “He’s really special, and they need him down the stretch.”

The conversation inevitably turned to Rizzs’ own farewell. Three Fridays remain in the regular season, including Rick Rizzs Farewell Weekend on Sept. 25-27, when the Mariners will honor his 41 seasons behind the mic with fireworks, a ceremonial first pitch and a full celebration day. He will be inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame next year, joining Niehaus as the only broadcasters so honored.

Asked whether the end feels real, Rizzs paused.

“Somebody asked me at the ballpark, ‘Hey, this is your second-to-last homestand of your career,’ and I went, ‘Ah,'” he said. “My glass isn’t half full, it’s full. But after 52 years of doing what I love to do, I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to spend more time with my grandkids and get on a plane when I want. I’m planning to go to Italy in May. I’ve never been able to do that in the last half-century.”

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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