Rick Rizzs’ final Mariners chapter is closing in, and the timing feels painfully off.
Rizzs announced in January that he would retire after the 2026 season, ending a run that has stretched across 41 seasons with the Mariners and more than five decades in baseball broadcasting. At the time, it sounded like a graceful exit. Seattle was coming off a memorable 2025 season that ended in an ALCS appearance, and Rizzs had spent nearly his entire career watching the franchise inch closer to a World Series than it ever had before.
That version of the story looked tidy enough. The Mariners were rising, Rizzs had seen enough to know how rare that was, and the goodbye seemed ready-made.
Then the season turned, and Seattle slipped into another disappointing year. Now the broadcaster who has been there for nearly every era of Mariners baseball is heading toward his last calls in a moment that doesn’t feel like it should be the end.
Rizzs has been around for all of it. Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, Ichiro Suzuki, Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez - he’s been the voice behind every generation. Through the good stretches and the miserable ones, he stayed put, which is more than can be said for just about anyone else in the organization’s history.
He’s also become something bigger than a play-by-play man. For Mariners fans, his voice is part of the fabric of the team.
That’s why the honor announced in August landed so hard: Rizzs will join Dave Niehaus as the second non-uniformed inductee into the Mariners Hall of Fame. It was the kind of recognition that matched what he has meant to the city and the franchise.
Still, the ending hanging over him doesn’t fit the legacy. Rizzs has called plenty of memorable moments, but he has never had the chance to call a World Series for the Mariners. After everything he’s seen and everything he’s weathered with this team, that would be the proper finish - the kind of ending that would give his career the payoff it deserves.
Last season made that dream feel closer than ever. Mariners fans bought in, and there’s a good chance Rizzs did too. Now he’s preparing to say goodbye without that call, even though the door hasn’t fully shut.
For now, he is slated to work the final game of the regular season, which could also be the final game of Seattle’s 2026 season. After 41 seasons together, that is a rough way to imagine the goodbye.
Maybe baseball still hands him one last unforgettable night. Maybe it doesn’t.
Either way, the possibility is there, and that’s what makes this so bittersweet.
From April 5, 1983, to the end of the 2026 season, Rick Rizzs has been one of the few constants in Mariners baseball. Players move on.
Managers move on. Owners move on.
He stayed. And after all of that, he deserves one more great ride - and maybe, just maybe, the chance to call the World Series that Mariners fans have been waiting for, too.
In Other News...
Mariners Were Right On Jorge Polanco But One Lineup Failure Remains
Jorge Polancos first season with the Mets never really got off the ground, and now the early exit has only sharpened the look back at Seattles decision not to chase the same deal. After the Mariners had him in 2025 and saw him deliver a strong season, Polanco declined his $6 million player option and drew interest on the market before landing in New York, where the contract guaranteed enough money to make Seattle step aside.
For the Mariners, the more pressing issue is what came after. They have not found a clean way to replace the production Polanco provided, and that hole has been part of the drag on a team that has slipped into a losing record. The front office can feel vindicated about the risk it avoided, but the lineup still has to answer the bigger question of who fills that spot and whether the offense can keep pace without it. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Raleighs Collapse Has Mariners Fans Facing A Brutal Reality
Cal Raleighs season has become one of the clearest symbols of how hard things have gone for the Mariners at the plate. The Seattle catcher is hitting .156 over a heavy workload of plate appearances, a line that has drawn uncomfortable comparisons to Joe Gerhardts notoriously rough 1885 season. Raleigh has owned the slump and accepted responsibility as the offense has sputtered around him, a candid response from a player usually asked to steady the middle of the lineup and the pitching staff behind the plate.
For Seattle, the issue is bigger than one players numbers, of course, but Raleighs collapse has helped define a lineup that has not produced enough to keep pace in the American League. The Mariners sit below .500 and outside the playoff picture, which makes every quiet night at the plate feel heavier. What happens next for Raleigh and the rest of the offense may determine whether this season is remembered as a temporary stumble or something far more frustrating. [Read more 🡒]
Mariners May Have Found A Needed Answer Against Lefties
The Mariners are taking a low-risk look at Andy Ibez, a veteran utility option they added on a minor-league contract after his release by the Mets. Ibez has spent six seasons in the majors with multiple clubs, and Seattle is sending him straight into the system with Triple-A Tacoma, where he wasted little time making an impression by going 4 for 8 with two doubles in his first two games.
For a Seattle roster that has been searching for more reliable production against left-handed pitching, Ibez is the sort of depth move that can quietly matter if it keeps carrying over. His versatility gives the club another option to evaluate, and Tacoma will now serve as the proving ground for whether the bat shows enough to push him back into the conversation at the big-league level. [Read more 🡒]