All-terrain vehicle accidents have shown up from time to time in the baseball world, including with former Chicago White Sox pitcher Daniel Webb’s death at 28 in one last year. Fortunately, the ATV accident long-time Seattle Mariners’ radio voice Rick Rizzs suffered this past week wasn’t as serious, and he reportedly escaped without major injuries. But that still has Rizzs set to miss the rest of the team’s current 10-game homestand, as per Brent Stecker of Tacoma radio station 710 AM/97.3 FM KIRO (the Mariners’ radio broadcast home)’s SeattleSports.com:
Legendary #Mariners announcer Rick Rizzs is missing the team's current homestand following an ATV accident during the All-Star break.https://t.co/k1ixVJ8saa
— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) July 16, 2023
Both Mariners’ radio reporter Shannon Drayer and MLB.com Mariners’ reporter Daniel Kramer have delivered optimistic updates on Rizzs:
Rick Rizzs is not in the broadcast booth this weekend after being an ATV accident during the All-Star break. But he's expected to return soon after not suffering any serious injuries, per the Mariners.
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) July 15, 2023
I checked in with Rick tonight and he said he's pretty banged up but doing okay.
"Tell the boys I said hello and let's get a win tonight!" https://t.co/B0zdw2OMzy
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) July 16, 2023
Rizzs, 69, began calling Mariners’ games in 1983, working alongside Dave Niehaus. Following a 1992-94 stint with the Detroit Tigers, Rizzs returned to Seattle, and he’s been there since in a mix of radio and TV roles with the team. He’s been working exclusively on radio since 2007, and has been their lead radio voice since Niehaus’ 2010 passing. This is his 38th season with the club; he passed Niehaus’ record of 35 in 2021.
With Rizzs out for now, the Seattle radio broadcasts this weekend were handled by Dave Sims and Gary Hill Jr. Sims is usually the team’s TV voice, but has support there from fellow long-time Mariners’ broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith. Hill is also a long-time Seattle broadcast veteran, serving as the full-time executive producer/engineer for the team’s radio broadcasts since 2018, and in a variety of roles on-air and behind the scenes since 2010. The Mariners’ broadcast lineup this year has also been hit by the absence of regular TV analyst Mike Blowers, who has missed most of this season due to a variety of factors from bronchitis to a concussion to vertigo.
Our thoughts go out to Rizzs as he recovers.
[SeattleSports.com; image from Seattle Refined on YouTube]
