Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs doesn't deserve to go out like this

Good things come and go, and one of the best things to happen to Seattle Mariners baseball is about to come to an end.

Rick Rizzs announced in January that he would retire following the 2026 season, bringing an end to 41 seasons with the Mariners and more than five decades in baseball broadcasting. At the time, the decision seemed like a more than fitting way for Rizzs to close the book. The Mariners were coming off an unforgettable 2025 campaign that ended with an ALCS appearance, and after spending nearly his entire career alongside the M's, Rizzs had finally seen the Mariners get closer to a World Series than ever before.

Maybe that was the plan, to go out on a high, and Rizzs just wasn't prepared for how far the Mariners would fall. Now, as Seattle navigates another disappointing season, Rizzs is preparing to call his final games. And, in all honesty, he doesn't deserve to go out like this.

Rick Rizzs has been with the Mariners through it all

For 41 seasons, Rizzs has been there, through nearly every chapter of Mariners history. From Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Edgar Martinez to Ichiro Suzuki, Cal Raleigh, and Julio Rodríguez, Rizzs has been the voice behind them all. Good or bad, highs and lows, he has somehow remained, as any good Mariners fan would.

Rizzs has been more than a broadcaster. For generations, his voice has been a part of Seattle baseball. That connection was solidified in August, when the Mariners announced that Rizzs would join Dave Niehaus as the second non-uniformed inductee into the Mariners Hall of Fame. Such a fitting honor for someone who has given so much of his life to the city, the team, and the Mariners fans.

And yet, somehow, his final chapter feels wrong. It is arriving at a time when the Mariners are going awry. Rizzs is set to say goodbye at a moment that shouldn't really feel like the end. Not yet.

Rizzs has called countless memorable moments, but has never had the chance to call a World Series for the Mariners. After everything he has witnessed and endured alongside this franchise, after every generation of players he has seen come and go, it would be the perfect end to his career to hear his voice call Seattle's first World Series appearance, and hopefully their first championship.

After last season, it felt more possible than ever. Mariners fans allowed themselves to believe that this might finally be the year. Something tells me Rizzs did, too. Now, he's preparing to say goodbye without it, even if there is still a chance he won't have to.

For now, Rizzs is set to call the final game of the regular season, a game that could be the final game of the Mariners' 2026 season. After 41 seasons together, it's a tough way to imagine him saying goodbye. Maybe baseball will finally give Rizzs the game he waited decades to call. Maybe it won't. But the possibility remains, and there is something so bittersweet about that.

From April 5, 1983, to the final game of the 2026 season, Rick Rizzs has been a constant in Mariners baseball. Players change. Managers change. Owners, too. But Rizzs stayed, and he deserves one last great ride. He deserves the chance to call a World Series, an ending so many Mariners fans want for him, and for themselves too. Something the Mariners are still capable of giving him as a farewell gift.

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