Rick Rizzs to have surgery, miss first road trip of his career
Mariners announcer Rick Rizzs, right, is the unlikely recipient of a foul ball off Norichia Aoki in the 3rd inning Wednesday. The Boston Red Sox played the Seattle Mariners Wednesday, August 3, 2016 at Safeco Field in Seattle. (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times.
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Fellow M’s broadcaster Dave Sims is also out after surgery to repair a torn Achilles, an injury that occurred during the same pickup basketball game that Rizzs hurt his arm.
Rick Rizzs, the Iron Man of Mariners broadcasts, pleaded with the doctor Wednesday.
“Can we wait? We’re going on a 10-day roadtrip tomorrow, and I’d like to wait,” Rizzs asked.
With that, Rizzs agreed to schedule surgery on his left biceps for Friday afternoon, to be performed in Seattle by Dr. Khalfayan. And so, for the first time in his 44-year broadcasting career, Rizzs will miss a team roadtrip because of an injury or illness.
“I’ll be in a brace for about seven days, but I’ll be fine. I’ll be fine,” he said before Thursday’s home finale against Houston.
He expects to be back in the broadcast booth at Safeco Field when the Mariners return from their 10-day trip on May 1.
Rizzs tore his biceps muscle while reaching for a steal during a pickup basketball game when the Mariners had an off day in Minnesota on April 6. It was during that same pickup game that fellow broadcaster Dave Sims, 65, tore an Achilles muscle, which he was scheduled to have surgically repaired Thursday.
Rizzs, 64, the Mariners’ primary radio voice, in his 32nd season as an M’s broadcaster. He recalled only one game in his time with the Mariners in which he missed a game because of an illness. That was in Toronto in the mid-1990s.
Gary Hill will do radio play-by-play during the road trip, joined by former Mariners pitcher Ryan Rowland-Smith as the color analyst. Aaron Goldsmith and Mike Blowers will be the TV broadcasters for ROOT Sports.
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They ought to get Kristi Gorenson of M’s Radio affiliate KXLY in Spokane to do PXP of one inning of an M’s game.