Retiring Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs on what went wrong in 2026 — and why he’s ‘really positive’ about next year

With nine games remaining in his 52-year baseball broadcasting career, Rick Rizzs isn’t ready to concede anything about the season and certainly not the joy of calling it.

The legendary voice of the Seattle Mariners joined “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio as the club opens a three-game series in Colorado against the Rockies. The Mariners enter the weekend at 71-82, five and a half games behind the Houston Astros in the American League West, clinging to the faintest mathematical hope of a postseason berth.

“We still have a chance,” Rizzs said. “They have to go out and win a three-game series here in Colorado. We still need a whole lot of help with Houston. But yeah, they’re going to go out there and give their best shot. They’re not giving up.”

Injuries derailed the Mariners’ season, but Rizzs sees a bright future in the club’s young talent

Rizzs, 72, announced in January that the 2026 season would be his last as the Mariners’ primary radio broadcaster, capping a 41-year run with the franchise that made him the longest-tenured voice in club history. He was originally hired in 1983 to pair with Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Niehaus.

The season has not unfolded the way Seattle envisioned. A year after reaching within eight outs of the World Series, the Mariners were widely expected to break through in 2026. Instead, a devastating rash of injuries derailed those ambitions almost from the start.

“I think the biggest thing right out of the gate was all the injuries,” Rizzs said. “Losing Cal Raleigh in the first half of the season for five weeks out with a strained oblique. Losing J.P. Crawford. Seventeen guys went on the IL, and we really haven’t seen Brendan Donovan pretty much all season long.”

Rizzs singled out the World Baseball Classic as a factor in Raleigh’s early absence and said manager Dan Wilson was rarely able to field his intended starting lineup.

“I don’t think Dan Wilson ever had his starting lineup on the field at one time, maybe just for a handful of games,” Rizzs said. “The starting staff even struggled in the second half of the year. George Kirby struggled, and Bryce Miller struggled. But remember, he was hurt in the first few months of the season.”

Despite the disappointing campaign, Rizzs offered an impassioned case for optimism, pointing to a wave of young talent that has arrived in the final weeks.

“You just got to take a look at the future of this ball club,” he said. “Kade Anderson came up. He was a first-round pick from last year. Last year, he was pitching in the College World Series, and now he’s made four or five starts in the big leagues. This kid was the best pitching prospect in baseball, and we got him with the third pick overall.”

Rizzs also highlighted outfielders Lazaro Montes and Michael Arroyo as cornerstones of what he believes will be a formidable roster in 2027.

“Montes and Arroyo coming up at the same time along with Kade Anderson,” Rizzs said. “They just have to get healthy. Next year, I’m really positive for this organization.”

With 9 games left, Rizzs is ready to savor the final moments of a 52-year career

Asked whether the franchise, which has never reached the World Series, must learn to handle the weight of expectation, Rizzs embraced the challenge rather than shrinking from it.

“I love expectations. You should want to have expectations,” he said. “You should want to be the team that everybody expects to go to the World Series, and even Major League Baseball said we were that team.”

As the conversation turned to his own farewell, Rizzs was characteristically warm and direct. He said he would not come out of retirement to call a future Mariners World Series, deferring to the next generation of broadcasters.

“I tried to replace a legend in Detroit, and that was really tough. No, I’m going to step away,” Rizzs said, referencing his three-year stint succeeding Ernie Harwell with the Tigers. “Gary Hill has done a great job, Aaron Goldsmith on TV, Shannon Drayer in pre and post. It’s their time.”

With nine games left, Rizzs said he intends to savor every moment.

“I’ve been working since I was 12 years old on the South Side of Chicago. Fifty-two years of baseball. I’ve had the most amazing career,” he said. “I’ve lived my dream for 52 years, 41 years with the greatest organization in baseball. It’s going to be tough to say goodbye, but I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life.”

The Mariners and Rockies play Friday night at Coors Field.

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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