Mariners announcer Rick Rizzs missing homestand after ATV accident

Jul 15, 2023, 10:42 PM | Updated: Jul 21, 2023, 1:16 pm

Seattle Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs during Ichiro Suzuki's M's Hall of Fame induction in 2022. (Photo: Steph Chambers/Getty)

(Photo: Steph Chambers/Getty)

BY BRENT STECKER

Seattle Sports

Update: Seattle Mariners play-by-play announcer Rick Rizzs disclosed Monday, June 17 during his weekly conversation with KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM’s Gee and Ursula that he suffered one broken vertebra in his neck and two in his back, a fractured rib, and a cut on his head in his all-terrain vehicle accident. For the full article with a more updated account of Rizzs’ status, click here. You can also hear Rizzs share an update on Tuesday’s edition of Wyman and Bob on Seattle Sports here.

Seattle Mariners play-by-play announcer Rick Rizzs will miss the team’s current 10-game homestand following an all-terrain vehicle accident during the MLB All-Star break this week.

The 69-year-old Rizzs, the longtime voice of the Mariners on the Mariners Radio Network and flagship station Seattle Sports, did not suffer any serious injuries in the accident and is expected to return to the announce booth soon, according to Daniel Kramer, who covers the M’s for MLB.com.

Mariners insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports shared a message from Rizzs just prior to Saturday’s 6:40 p.m. game against the Tigers.

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

Dave Sims and Gary Hill Jr. will call Saturday’s game on Seattle Sports, as they did Friday’s Mariners loss.

Rizzs is in his 38th season calling Mariners games. It’s the longest tenure of any broadcaster in club history, as Rizzs in 2020 surpassed Baseball Hall of Famer and his former on-air partner Dave Niehaus, who was in the booth for the first 35 seasons of the franchise’s history.

Earlier this year, Rizzs disclosed that he has been diagnosed with Grade 1 prostate cancer. A routine exam found that his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were elevated to levels of concern, and luckily the diagnosis found no tumor and at this time does not require chemotherapy or surgery, as detailed in an article by The Seattle Times’ Ryan Divish.

The Seattle Mariners announce team this season has also been without Mike Blowers, the usual color commentator on ROOT Sports who also does regular segments on the Seattle Sports pregame and postgame shows. Per Larry Stone of The Seattle Times, Blowers initially had a “nagging case of bronchitis, mixed with a sinus infection and the flu,” then suffered a concussion and three stress fractures in his face due to a fall while running. Blowers has yet to return except for one game on May 5.