Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - Aaron Goldsmith: Mariners' Offseason, Breakout Candidates, Growing as a Broadcaster

Episode Date: January 20, 2024

Mariners broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith joins Ty and Colby to discuss all the turnover on the Mariners' major league roster this winter, who could break out in 2024, the art of living up to the big moment as a broadcaster, keeping fans engaged during Spring Training broadcasts, and much more.Follow the show on Twitter: @LO_Mariners | @TyDaneGonzalez | @CPat11Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.Jase MedicalEmpower yourself when you purchase a Jase Case, providing you with a personal supply of 5 antibiotics that treat 50+ infections. Get yours today at jasemedical.com and use code LOCKEDON to get $20 off your order. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mariner's broadcaster, Aaron Goldsmith, joins Colby and I to discuss the upcoming season and what is philosophy and approach to broadcasting is coming up here on the Locked On Marrars podcast. Let's get into it. You are Locked on Mariners. Your daily Seattle Mariners podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Oh, Hoy, Sailors. It is Friday, January 19, 2024. This is Tiding Azales for the Lockdown Marrers podcast. Brought to you by Game Time. download the GameTime app, create an account, and use promo code locked on. That's L-C-K-D-O-N, $20 off your first purchase. Thank you so much for making us your first listen. Subscribe, like, and turn on alerts.

If you're watching on YouTube or subscribe and leave a five-star review on your preferred podcast platform, if you like what you hear. And if you're part of the crew and rock with us every single day, let us know in the comments below. And if you want to hear from us even more, please consider signing up for our Patreon. You can now get a free seven-day trial to check out the show. The link, as well as our social accounts, is in the description of this episode. So if you've been following Colby and I since pretty much the beginning, since the start of the control of the zone days, you'll know that we've had a list of interview, I guess we'll call them targets.

And at the top of that list, of course, is like Julio, naturally. Near the top of that list was also Jerry before we were able to talk to Jerry last year. And today we got to check off another box with another top of the list guy. And that is Mariners Broadcaster and Fox Sports broadcaster, Aaron Goldsmith. We've been wanting to talk to Aaron for quite some time. We love Aaron's work. We respect the absolute hell out of Aaron and the rest of the Mariners broadcast team. And we were able to have a very lengthy conversation with him,

at least relative to how long our shows are normally. And I think you guys are really going to enjoy it. We talked a little bit about his philosophy and approach to broadcasting. We talked about this 2024 Mariners Ball Club and a whole lot more. I'm just going to shut up and get to the interview. So I hope you guys enjoy. We're now joined by Mariners and Fox Sports broadcaster Aaron Goldsmith. Aaron, thanks for taking the time out to chat with us today.

Really appreciate it. How's it going? Oh, it's great, man. Absolutely good to be with you guys. How's the offseason treating you? Man, it's an off season like I've never had before. I'm almost full-time dad week after week. And it's exhausting.

Like, I've never been more tired. I go to bed at 9 o'clock, 9.30 every night. And I was actually talking to my wife the other day. I said, how, what am I going to do when April rolls around? Like, the idea of staying up until 11th seems awful. So I'm going to have to flip the switch. But it's been great. A lot of family time.

I've got three young kids. I've been coaching my two boys basketball teams. Now, one of the boys is four years old. So I'm not coaching. I'm just hurting. and trying to corral. But it's been great. It's just been awesome.

It's such a change of pace from the baseball season, as you guys can imagine, just being home constantly and dinner every night and drop offline at school and all that stuff. So it's been a good change.

See a bunch of baseballs behind you. Got a nice collection there. What are we working with there? Autos, like just foul balls? I only have one foul ball. Actually, it's right here. This was from last, August, Cal Raleigh

hit a ball back up to the booth and I dropped it. I've always had a dream of catching a foul wall and I'm 0 for two. My first opportunity in about a decade actually. And so I snacked a ball and I gave it to Cal a little bit later and I said, hey, you have to sign something on him that it just

roast me to mercilessly. And so he said, Aaron, nice hands, feet, Count Raleigh. Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. That's pretty solid. But, you know, when I'm, I'm like a moderate collector. And I knew when I kind of started years and years ago that the scope of just collecting

baseball things is so grand. You'll be lost going in a hundred different directions. And so I kind of narrowed my focus, primarily. primarily the only things that I seek are HOF signed baseballs. So Hall of Fame autograph balls. So the big display case behind me, I would say almost all of those are Hall of Fame signatures. There are some exceptions. Like we've got a Felix Perfect Game signature in there.

I've got a Don Larsson World Series Perfect Game autograph ball, which is really cool. So they're either Hall of Fame signed balls or I would say like event-based or ceremonial types. signed baseballs in that regard. We got an EITRO in there? You know, I do have an ECHRO further back. Have you seen ECHRO's autograph? You must have seen ECHO's autograph. I mean, it's like those things

that you did in school where you put the pen into the hole of the contraption with all the like gears and then you run it around in a circle. I mean, his signature is, for as meticulous as a guy as EITRO is, his signature is just, I mean, it's

a tornado. You know, speaking of collecting things, Colby right now is in the midst of putting together a collection of well it's going to be hard for him to find all autograph cards but he's trying to get cards of every single Jerry DePoto acquisition yeah

so right now he's looking for Justin DeFratus if you're wondering the first thing I thought of is what are the most obscure guys here obviously we were talking about this right before you hopped in. Coli, did you say that you got a Jonathan Arrow?

I'd found a Jonathan Arrow card, not autographed, unfortunately. Now, are these players on either side of the acquisition or only the receiving end? Just the players that he has acquired. I might go back later and do the players he's traded away or, you know, but, yeah, I got to start somewhere. When I said my, the latest bookmark that I've added to my Mariners folder or tab, I guess it's a folder. Jordan Schusterman of Cesspitus Barbecue, right?

Big Mariners guy. Are you good? Oh yeah, I'm sure. Are you aware that he keeps a spreadsheet of Jerry trades? Yes. Yes. Okay. So I just the other day, I bookmarked it because I'm like, I'm going to want this at some

point. And so I just pulled it up. Do you have, I'm going to start more, I'm going to start like low hanging fruit, but names that aren't. completely buried. Sure. Do you have a James Pazos autograph? Not yet. Not yet. Cole, you're working from the beginning, right? Like, you're starting from the beginning. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm back filling a lot of this. It just started it recently. So are you, like, are you actually attacking this in chronological order? Is that what you're saying? It's not what I,

it's just easier to just kind of follow it chronologically than try and remember like all the. So I just listed out and checkmark, check mark, check mark and all that stuff. So, yeah, it's, you know what would actually be a slow process. A pretty fun autograph would be a Pat Vendetti autograph. Ooh, right. I forgot he was a mariner, yeah. Yeah, that's a fun story for obvious reasons. That waiver deadline in general, you got to get an Archimedes Camerro.

Yeah, of course. Was that also the Gamal deadline? Did they get Gamal that year? about the year after the 2016 August I can't remember I think so I think that was boy this this is a great list how many do you think you have so far

oh it's it's in terms of just like autos yeah probably only about 10 it's it's fairly new I've recently acquired the Nate Carnes and like Chris Ianeta so and you got the Noriaoki yeah I got a Norie Oakey yep

So yeah, it's fairly new. And, you know, I kind of have to draw the line somewhere. Like today I learned that the Mariners once signed a free agent called Stephen LaRood. And I don't think I can track that card down. So I'm going to have to start, you know, major league signings and stuff like that. But, yeah. Is there autographs on, is it on anything or is it just on cards, just on baseball? What is it going to be?

Just on cards for now. And then, you know, if I can't find the auto, I'll take what I can get. But I would prefer it to be autoed. But, yeah, you know, Wade Miley is Jonathan Arrow like that type of stuff. So I'm in 2016 right now and kind of trying to work towards more recent acquisition. I do have a Mitch Garber for example. You even got a boo Powell. Yep, I got a boot pal.

That's how deep this thing runs. Yeah. Hey, Joe Weeland. Yep, he's on my list. I call Joe Weelan's no hitter in AA. Oh, really? Yeah. Joe and I've got some real history.

He was a very short-lived mariner. Patrick Kivlahan. Yep. It could have been. I mean, that was a tough loss, Kivlahan. All right. Well, Godspeed on that. Yeah.

Thanks. Honestly, I can't think of a more worthless journey to take. Yeah. Yeah. I know. But I credit you for your ambition. It's the middle of winter. I got to do something baseball related.

Yeah. Yeah. We got to keep the blood pumping. So speaking about this off season, it's been an interesting offseason for the Seattle Marys. Let's talk a little bit about what Jerry and Justin have done in just this front office in general have done this winter. A lot of turnover, a lot more turnover than I think really any of us expected at the major league level. A lot of guys going out, a lot of guys coming in.

What do you think about all of it? I agree. I did not see this type of churn. to the Mariners roster. I think it's kind of obvious what has happened. And to their credit, it seems like they have been as creative as possible and have tried to really make the best of this situation,

which has been they've had to streamline some things. The latest, I guess maybe round of moves that kind of came in a flurry a little while ago at this point with the two Mitches coming over and Garver and Hanager. I think those, when those happen, even a casual mariner fan can look at that and say, okay, this makes the Mariners noticeably better and fills a need for both guys, right? You needed an outfielder in Hanager and you needed basically an everyday DH in Garver. And to me, those are two of the biggest impactful bats that you could have gotten.

I never would have thought that Mitch Hanigur was coming back to the Mariners. But man, just personally, I'm really excited. I think Hanager is one of just the ultimate pros that I've ever been around. I've learned so much about hitting, talking with Mitch. He's not an easy guy to track down. He has such a meticulous routine every day. He's not one of these guys that you'll find just sitting at his locker, scroll on Instagram. that's just not who he is.

And I think having his presence in the clubhouse, not just in the lineup, but in the clubhouse as well. If I was a Jerry or a Justin or a Scott Service, I would want my guys being around a McAnneger. And one thing I've always thought about Mitch is that whenever his career is over, he will file his retirement papers

knowing that he did, absolutely everything he could to maximize his ability. That guy doesn't take a single shortcut, whether it's his diet, his sleep, what he does mentally to prepare for a game, certainly physically. There just aren't many like him in that regard. He's almost a little maniacal about it in a good way. So very excited about just having him around again, not to mention just the fun times that we all remember from like peak Mitch Hanigur.

The concern I have, one of the concerns I have is that you have two of your biggest bats in Garver and Hanaker who have a pretty obvious injury history, right? And if one of those guys is out of the lineup for a period of time, obviously that would be disappointing. If you have both of those guys out for a period of time, that will be hard to weather. It would be hard to weather for any team, not just the Mariners, based on what they mean to the club. So I, if you go back, right, remember the second to last year for Hanager when he played in what felt like almost every game? I thought service managed, he managed Hanager brilliantly. He got a lot of DH days, right? If it was a day game after a night game, they got him off his feet, they got him out of right field, they dached him.

And you're not going to be able to do that now because of Garver. that just won't be an option. And so obviously Hanigar is a few years older now than he was that season. And he's had injuries the last two years since that season I referenced. So it's not a matter of him not preparing himself. Unfortunately, he's just been one of those guys that's been stung by the injury bug. And some of them are completely unavoidable. We all remember some of the bad ones he had in a Mariners uniform.

So when I see the lineup now with those two names in it, I certainly feel better about it. But I do worry about how can Scott weather the storm with two of his biggest bats ones that he kind of has to monitor from a health standpoint. Colby, you got anything for Colby? Yeah, I'm just, Ty and I've talked a lot about how this team has kind of they've kind of removed some of the old guard in terms of, you know, clubhouse leaders.

You look at Paul Seawald. You look at Gino and Mitch Hanigar even last year. So do you think the reacquisition of Hanager is maybe not quite as much about the clubhouse, but a little bit more so than people think because you, you know, you've not thrown out. You've gotten rid of a lot of guys who were vocal leaders in that clubhouse. Hanager comes in. he's certainly somebody who commands respect and for all the reasons you talked about. So do you think that maybe played a role in the reacquisition?

I don't think there's any question that it adds to his value. I think from a very basic necessity standpoint, they had to have somebody like him, right? You needed to have a right-handed hitting corner outfielder, right-fielder in this case. So he fits the most important thing, but you're right. J.P. Crawford is clearly emerged as one of the leaders. In fact, I said this before. I don't think I've ever heard a player reference more by Scott's service applauding him for his makeup as I have Scott talking about J.P. Crawford. It's a somewhat regular event for Scott.

He loves J.P. Crawford, the person, not just the player, and what he brings. and he references all the time how competitive he is. And it's not, he's not, he's not blowing smoke. I really think he firmly believes it. So between J.P. Hanager, I don't know what kind of, how vocal of a guy Mitch Garver is. But he's certainly an established big league player who just signed a fairly lucrative free agent contract. So that, that is certainly a presence. But yes, you're right.

It has, they have lost a number of those guys. And I think every year you hope that some of your younger guys continue to evolve into that. And this will be year three for Julio. It's Julio's team, right? I mean, he's the face of it. How Julio evolves in terms of a vocal leader, I don't know. He certainly has that ability. And I think I do feel like he has done that before.

But for some reason, we don't maybe talk about Julio in that light quite as much because he's, what, 23 now. But he, to be a leader, requires, I imagine, a number of things, one of which is you have to have success, right? It's really hard to be a leader in the clubhouse when you are struggling to perform. And that has certainly not been an issue for Julio over his first two years. He is one of the faces of baseball. So it wouldn't surprise me at all if that takes maybe a noticeable step forward in some regard this year. So I do. I do. think they are fairly well positioned on that front even despite the losses

that you reference, which are accurate. For conversation with Aaron Goldsmith will continue in just a moment, but first a reminder, this episode of the Lockdown Aaron's podcast is brought to you by GameTime. Buying tickets to your favorite events shouldn't be stressful. Game time is a fast and easy way to buy tickets

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Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use promo code locked on, that's L-O-C-D-O-N, for $20. Apply. Again, create an account and redeem promo code locked on. That's L-C-D-O-N for $20 off. Download game time today. Last-minute tickets, the lowest price guarantee. We've been asked this quite a bit, this off-season. I'm going to ask you, who do you think on this team?

team is going to take a significant step forward in 2024. By the way, aside to backtrack for just a second. I mean, you can throw Cal Raleigh in that bucket as well, right? I mean, he's posted, he's got in a done. And I think he has just an immense amount of respect within that clubhouse, especially with what he played through two years ago on the back half of the season. one guy who if you told me the season ends and he has 25 home runs and if you told me his name is Dominic Canzon, I would say, yeah, I believe that. I don't, I'll be curious how many, how many lefties is he facing, right?

How, how, because he looked bad. He had some bad swings left on left. But I'll tell you this much, even though he had some bad swings, I'll go glass half full on something for a moment with Canzone. He's not afraid to look bad. You know, it's like the guy in high school who doesn't want to get dunked on. You know, it's like you don't want to posterized. I'm not saying that Canzone looked bad often.

There were some tough matchups left on left as a rookie that he just got fooled. And we saw Kellnick get fooled many, many times, right, as a very, young player and even through his probably final at bats at times as a mariner. But the amount of power that Canzone has, I had no idea. And you look at him and you would have no idea. But that kid will let it rip. The whole not against the Orioles was very shocking. Incredible.

I think it's a very good way to put it. He's got some, he has ability to find a barrel. and it gets loud when he gets to it. And even, I mean, for people listening who remember the series in Arizona before the trade, I mean, Canzon had some big knocks against the Mariners off the some of the big boys in their bullpen, including Munoz. I feel like there was like a go-ahead ribby. Yeah, the middle eighth or ninth inning that won the game for the Diamondbacks.

It was Canzone. So I guess the, he's a young player. you never know what that type of development is going to look like. I also don't know what he will look like specifically against lefties, but I know this much. When he gets to the ball, it's loud. And when that trade was made, I think we were all in the same boat. Like we just saw Canzon with the Diamondbacks.

He had a couple of big hits, but he wasn't this high draft pick. He wasn't a super mega prospect. Physically, he doesn't jump off the page to you. He's not this imposing guy. but you watch them play day after day and you're like man okay like this kid's got some sneaky pop and he can find the barrel

so I would say that's the guy that I would buy some stock in right now that I'm curious to see what will his numbers be like at the end of the year yeah yeah I think Canzone's definitely going to be a popular one for that you know even throw in Thai France into the mix Luis Urius I think definitely fits

that bill as well there's a lot of guys where it's like they're either coming off of down years or, you know, injury plague seasons or you just haven't seen a lot of it. There's very small sample size, but the upside is undeniable with a lot of these guys. And again, that's even for someone that's a bit more established like Thai France, who's coming off of, you know, a down blast, what, year and a half, essentially. So, yeah, you know, I think the ceiling for this team is very high, but there's a lot of variables as well to account for. like, you know, also like you talked about earlier with, uh, with the health of, you know, Garver and Hanager, but it's, uh, the upside definitely is, is very exciting with this team.

Um, you know, when I set the center view up with you, I, I, you know, I told you that I also kind of wanted to dive into, you know, your philosophy and your approach to doing broadcasts. And I think a really good place to start here because a lot of commentators, a lot of play by play guys, they're not particularly good at this. And that's the art of calling big moments. You know, so I'm kind of interested to hear your thoughts on, you know, how to word things in a big moment, how to really meet the moment. And then, you know, a very important part too is letting the crowd be the star as well. Well, nobody, nobody wants, I remember rephrase that. broadcaster craves the big moment, right?

Like you show up with a ballpark 162 times and you just hope that the game gets decided in the final at bat. I mean, that's what you want every game because you want, you want to be able to have the most exciting plays when you're behind the microphone. That's way more fun. I think when I first started with the Mariners, this will be my 12th year with the M's. I was so nervous and so tight and so afraid, truly, just so afraid, you know, saying the wrong thing. It was by far my biggest weak point.

Like if you had a scouting report of me, my first few years. And some people might still think it's my biggest weakness to each their own. but it's funny somebody tweeted me and it was not a great tweet like it was not a way to go but they said something along the lines of

your home run calls or your big calls they don't have enough salt and maybe because I like to eat a lot I don't know but they really resonated with me and I knew they were right I knew they were right.

I couldn't dispute it at all. And because all I was, every big call I had was just, hey, don't mess it up. Just say as little as you can, get out and don't mess it up. And I do think there's a fine line. You want to amplify the moment. You want to live up to the moment, meet the moment, but you don't want to overshadow the moment. You don't want to take the moment and use it as your pedestal for you to be the focal point. So there is a bit of a fine line there.

And I guess in some ways, to be fair to myself, the only way to figure it out is to do it and to be aware of that. And it just took me some time. And I remember when I started calling college basketball, I was, you sit courtside, calling college basketball, you're right there on top of the action. And for whatever the reason, I really allowed myself to kind of loosen up a little bit calling basketball. I can't explain why. Do you think that's maybe because it wasn't like your main gig? I mean, it's like less pressure, maybe? You know, it's funny. I do feel like, I think there is some element to that when, when I started calling games for the Mariners, my first major.

League job, I'd come out of the minors. I kind of felt like there was this, every night when I started broadcasting, I felt like there was this collective fan base, right, and they're all listening to me, and they're all judging me, and they're all deciding whether they like this new guy

or they don't, or what they like about them and what they don't. And it was like, every night you've got the same jury. Right? And when I would go call college basketball games for Fox, during the winter, especially those early years, I was like, no, the jury is different every night.

You know, if I make a mistake tonight and then next Thursday, I go to Eugene and I call a game, they don't know that I messed up that call in Berkeley last Friday night, you know? And so I guess I maybe felt like I could just let it, let it loose, let it rip a little bit more, and things weren't going to stay with me. Now, I say all this, all this was in my head, right? there were some Mariner fans who were doing the things that I described of who is this guy. But for the most part, this is all in my own head and all my own making and I was my own worst enemy when I came to this. But basketball allowed me to kind of find that next gear

and hear what that sounded like, experience what that feels like. And then as I became more comfortable as a Mariner broadcaster, which admittedly, it's not like it could just flip, the switch in year two. I mean, it took like three, four, maybe even five years. Now it's to a point where it's the complete reversal of what I was just describing. When I go, I do very few network games now compared to a number of years ago, but when I do go call a Fox game, and partly why I did reduce my fault schedule, I feel no investment. I feel no investment with the teams. I feel no investment with the listeners, the audience, the fan base. And I don't like that, especially the audience standpoint. One of my favorite things about calling Mariner games is that, again, this is kind of made up

in my head, but I feel like every night when I put the headset on, I'm talking to the exact same people that I talked to last night and the month before that, a year before that, and three years before that. and I feel like they know me and I feel like I know them. In reality, we all know. I don't know hardly any of them. And they do kind of know me.

They certainly know me more than I know them. But I feel it. Like I feel the connection. And whatever inside jokes I might have with Blauers or Dan Wilson or whoever it might be or Gary, I feel like people are caught up on that. right and like we're all we're all in this together every year and it puts me at ease it makes me comfortable more than that I just really enjoy it and it makes me want to show up to work

to talk to these same people every night so as I became more comfortable with that I did create the ability to kind of turn it on more and honestly I remember my old boss Randy Adamack who is like one of the OG Mariners, like the press, new press box at T-Mobile Park is named after Randy. Once a year I thank him from the bottom of my heart. He hired me. And if it wasn't for Randy,

I could still be kicking in in Patucket at Rhode Island right now. I just, I'm so grateful to Randy. I remember talking to Randy around year five or so with the Mariners and being like, hey, I'm actually, I feel like I'm too comfortable now. Like there's, I had some calls that really,

I like to think of it like your dashboard on your car with whatever that spedometer is that shows you how much you're revving your engine. Right. Like there are times where you need to get excited, but if you start to redline, it hurts your car. And if you start to redline on the air, it hurts the call. And I've experienced that. And I, that's not just something that I experienced five years ago. I experienced that a number of times last year. and I'll probably experience it a couple of times in 2024.

But hopefully now I can hear it, recognize it, and adjust from it because the big calls are the greatest. And we all want them. But doing them right does take living in the moment, not being afraid, not being afraid to just go with what you see and go with what you feel. And I try to always remind myself that if I'm feeling, feeling it, whatever it is, you on your couch are feeling the same thing. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And that took me some time to get the courage to just instantly pull the trigger on that every time I had that feeling.

Right. Because there's part of you, you just don't want to make a mistake. Right. You don't want to be called out on Twitter. You don't want people clipping this call and putting it all over the place and you feel like an idiot. But like, part i do feel like some of that is the cost of doing business right like if you if you want if you want to really live in the moment like you probably are going to mess some of those things up every once in a while hopefully they're not catastrophic well i mean you're on live tv you're on live radio like 162 times a year if not more right like it it will happen and i try to remind i try to cut myself a little slack as long as it's not like egregiously horrible right um but i remember last year, Ty France hit a homer

out to left and it knocked a light out of the scoreboard. And when the ball was hit, I had a pretty good sense it was a home run. And when it kind of gets hit

over to left field, like left center, I will oftentimes go to my monitor if I'm on TV or even if on radio because I want to see specifically where it hit like did it hit off we've seen home runs hit off the stairwell to go up from the pen right up to the main concourse like did it land did a reliever catch it in the bullpen right did it land beyond the bullpen and into the

pen and so I was looking at my monitor when the ball was like halfway out out to the fence and then I saw on my monitor one of the lights go out on the scoreboard and I couldn't see the ball right I can't see the ball in the monitor, but I saw the light go out instantly in the area where I thought the ball would be and then our director cut to you know, Thai France rounding second base. And so, but in that moment

in the call, I referenced that he just knocked the light out of the scoreboard. And it was like, I didn't even think about it. I saw it. I said it. And then when I laid out, I remember thinking, oh man, I hope I saw that right.

but he did he did he knocked a light out of the scoreboard and to me like that was such a cool thing that never happens and to not get that in the call would have been a real bummer i can't remember the last time a guy knocked a light out of the scoreboard at team mobile park right and so i just i rolled the dice basically i assumed how else could this happen now people could listen to this and say well Aaron like of course it was the home run like do you think that the light just went out at the exact same time that Thai France hit a home run in that vicinity. And when you look at it that way

from wherever you are listening to this right now in your car, around your couch, like, yeah. But when you're in it and you're calling it and there's 40,000 people screaming because they just know the ball went over the fence and like your adrenaline's pumping, you don't have the time. You can't think that way.

It's just you're just reading and reacting. And so when that happened, It was like such a minor thing that nobody even probably thought about or realized. But I remember thinking once I confirmed that the ball did hit the scoreboard and knocked the light out, I was like, all right. I'm like that. I wouldn't have been able to do that a few years ago because I wouldn't have had the courage to be in the moment, watch the ball, see what happened, work that into the call, be genuinely enthused, excited like anybody at home. Like, oh my gosh, did you see that? He just knocked the scoreboard out.

And fortunately, I was right. And if, and you know what? In 2024, something like that's going to happen and I'm going to be wrong. And I'm going to be really mad driving home. And then everybody's going to forget about it. But the good news is, like, I'm, I've been able to start to train myself that hopefully I'll cash in on more of those that I'll miss. Like, that's the fun, right? is when stuff, when spontaneous things like that happen that you cannot plan for, nobody can predict.

And when you're in it, man, like you're in it. And you see it and you call it. And it's like no other call you've ever had because it's like no other home run you've ever seen. That's the really fun stuff. Yeah. I feel like Dave Sims is pretty good at just seeing it calling it. And sometimes he gets stuff wrong. But, you know, his home run call, his like big moment calls, they're almost always money.

so yeah i mean i mean talking about yeah talking about meeting the moment like simsies got an 80 grade fastball absolutely and not even talking about the uh you know the mitch game a couple years back against the angels or you know the raleigh walk off yeah i mean great but like even um i remember just during the summer when they swept the royals at home and the the sweep clencher and the ninth inning when when munoz is out there and just the way that he's like matching the energy of the crowd was electric.

It's just like, Simsey's really good at that stuff. He is. He's masterful at it. And it's been wonderful the last few years in particular. You asked earlier about the crowd. We've had, for some of these games, we've had just remarkable crowds, right? 35 plus, 40 plus. And you obviously feel that.

You hear it in your headset. and when you get big moments with big crowds at home, it's such a joy to call the moment and then lay out and let that take over because it's, first of all, you can't fight it. If you fight it, you'll lose. They're louder than we are. And it's just that's, you do this so that you can have big moments in front of big crowds, hopefully in your home ballpark, right?

And so when you sense it, it's an easy trigger to, No, like, all right, it's time to wrap it up and get out and let the crowd take over because that's the best sound of sports. There's no doubt. We'll pick up our discussion with Aaron in just a moment, but first, a reminder, this episode of the Locked-on Maris podcast is brought to you by Fandul. All right, sailors, the NFL regular season may be over, but there's still time to get in on the action with Fandul, America's number one sports book. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet. That's $150 bucks in bonus bets win or lose. And the app is so easy to use and there are so many different ways to bet like

Live same game parlayes. You can also find bets on the new Explorer tab and make a parlay and the parlay hub. It's the best way to find popular parleyes. While the Seahawks are done, Mariners Baseball is almost here, folks. So is betting on Mariners Baseball. But while you wait for the boys to take the field, you can still bet on the Cracken and Huskies basketball. So visit Fanduel.com slash a locked on.

That's L-C-K-D-O-N and make your first bet a layup. Again, that is Fanduel.com slash locked-on L-O-C-K-D-O-N. Fand-W, official partner of the National Football League. So we're talking about some other guys in the booth, too. So this is a question. I really want to get out there. So I want to make sure we get it in here. What's it going to take for Rick Riz to be a Seattle Mariners Hall of Famer?

What's the whole thing? You know what? It's so funny you bring that up. I was actually driving around today and I thought, that's got to happen soon, right? I don't have, I'll preface this by saying I have no inside information. Like I know as much as you guys do. But I feel like if that was announced tomorrow, I would be like, yeah, okay, great, perfect. It can't come soon enough.

Absolutely. So I've talked to Gary Hill about this. I've asked him about this. And you know, spring training is coming up. And from the outside looking in, I feel like this is one of the more underrated, like,

hardest parts of the entire year for you guys. And that's keeping listeners engaged in the late innings of like a spring training broadcast. Right. When like guys with, you know, numbers in the 80s are coming out there, no name on the back of the jersey.

sometimes they're not even on your program. Like, how do you specifically, from your standpoint, try and keep listeners engaged during the spring? And is that something that you plan ahead of time? Do you plan maybe some stories or some talking points? Or do you just kind of vibe out, essentially? I would take your point even a step further and say, innings one through nine are the most difficult part of the broadcast year.

I mean, it's just, it's really hard calling 30 games that don't have consequence to wins and losses, to the record, to the standings, right? Calling one of those games would be hard enough. Calling a month's worth is very challenging, especially since really all those games are the same, right? Like, the lineups are pretty much the same, the same guys come in at the same point for the other same guys. it's a lot of Groundhog day. So it's very difficult. I think there's, I have, I suppose, two methods to go about doing it.

One, I'll take Luke Rayleigh, for example. So we had him on our hot stove show the other day. And to get ready for the interview, I did just a deep dive resource. on all things about him, right? And from his, the basic stuff like his numbers from last year to the more interesting biography things, like his family owns a Christmas tree farm. Yeah, exactly, right? Which is Rayleigh's tree farms.

They grow and sell pine and spruce trees in bulk to landscapers. And during December, they sell over a thousand Christmas trees. And Luke grew up strapping Christmas trees to people's cars just like you and me, right? And so when when Luke comes up in spring training, I can talk about these things.

But what I've also learned is that even when he's out of the game and it's the eighth inning, you don't care that he's out of the game. A good story is a good story. whether, and especially in spring training. I mean, any good story is worth its weight in gold in spring training. And so I have learned to get prepared this time of year so that you're not scrambling when you get down to Peoria.

Get your notes in order. Hopefully they're more than just. He hit this many home runs and stole this many bases because nobody really cares about that. And it's good to reference. But people want to actually feel like they get to know these guys a little bit and realize that they're actual real people. So that's one element of it. And then the other is you really, spring training really teaches you to take your blinders off.

Because in a regular season game, as long as the game's within about four runs, it's like you kind of got to stick with the game, especially if you start to get in on base and the leverage starts to ramp up. But if you're playing the Dodgers in Glendale, in mid-March and it's the sixth inning

and all the starters are out and maybe the stars are still in for all that matter. There's no problem with talking about how the Mariners played at Dodger Stadium on Jackie Robinson Day

years ago and how we got to interview Vin Scully talk about Jackie Robinson and what that was like to walk into Vin Scully's booth

at Dodgers Stadium shake his hand and hear him say the name Jackie Robinson. It's amazing, right? Look butter. Yeah, it's incredible. Like, all you need is a connection of Mariners, Dodgers, Vince Goli, Jackie Robinson Day. Boom, like, you're there. It's seven degrees of Kevin Bacon, right?

And I think one of the most important things that I've had to learn the hard way is you always have to put the listener first. What does the listener want to hear? Does the listener really want to hear that right now some 23-year-old lefty who spent last year in AA Chattanooga for the Dodgers

with this record and a this ERA is pitching? Nobody cares, man. Nobody listening to our broadcast cares about that unless I give them a reason to care about this guy. Right. Now, maybe I happen to know that this lefty who spent last year in Chattanooga has A, B, and C,

which instantly makes them interesting to you, the baseball fan, whatever it might be, on the field, off the field. But if I don't know that, it's like, give me someone that's interesting. Give me someone I can sink my teeth into. And the Scully Jackie Robinson thing is completely, low-hanging fruit that anybody driving around listening to that game gets teleported. And you got nothing but warm and fuzzies hearing about Scully and Jackie, right?

And so, but it's hard. It sounds easy, but when you're, the job is so repetitive, the games are so repetitive, not just spring training, but it's obviously it's nine innings every day and every night, that it can become really easy to put blinders on and not realize, hey, I'm, I'm in full control here. Like I'm the conductor. And if I'm bored, 100% chance you,

the listener is bored. And so how about I start talking about something that brings me joy that I find interesting? And I guarantee it that you will probably find it interesting. At a heart, I'm a baseball fan.

I listen to games. I watch games when I'm not calling them. And I know when it's like, oh, man, it's kind of dragging. And I know when it's like, oh, man, this is fun. Like this is either, I'm either learning something that's baseball-y, right? Or I'm learning something that's a fun story. Or I was being entertained. Like two guys are just goofing around in the back half of the spring game and it's fun.

And that's part of it too. This is entertainment at its absolute core, bottom line. So by no means am I a master of it. But I've been through enough spring training games that I've been able to be like to realize, hey I'm I'm boring myself the tears here and we got to get this thing we got to get this thing on track let's start thinking let's start thinking which makes it more fun for me and hopefully more fun for you guys as well so I want to take it back about 15-ish months ago

game two A L wild card in Toronto I ask everyone that I know was there about this that I get on the show because I was there I live in Toronto and And I met Gary before the game and he was kind of enough to take some time to talk to me and my friend just a little bit about the game. And, you know, none of us had any idea what was going to happen that day. And, you know, there's a video from in the booth of Riz making the call of Adam Fraser's double and you can see you and Gary in the background. And you're like punching Gary basically. It's hilarious.

I wanted to ask you, what do you remember most about that day or that night, that celebration? And secondly, because Gary kept a beer can, I don't know if you know this, but Gary kept a beer can from that night. Did you keep anything from that night? Yes, I have the same, I have the same Blue Jays Budweiser can. There we go. There it is. And then we also, you know, we stayed on air for a long time after that game.

and all the guys were doing their clubhouse celebration and they were on the field and when by the time we got off the air rogers center was empty most guys were showered and gone i remember i poked my head inside the clubhouse and as i turned the corner cal raleigh was there and you remember he had the severe thumb ligament injury, right? He had, it looked like the equivalent of a boxing glove with ice underneath it, taped onto his hand, man. Warrior. Absolutely dog.

You know, it's like, my takeaway from that moment that I obviously still vividly remember is I'm around these guys every day. I see them. I don't ever really see the guys after the game. I see them before the game all the time.

in various facets at their locker and the cage on the field. And even I around them as much as I am, like you just don't realize what they put their bodies through to do this every single day with hardly any breaks for six months. He is a warrior man. Like that guy is, he's an animal. So I remember that a little behind the scenes thing. and also we were able to snag a champagne bottle.

Oh, there we go. Awesome. That's awesome. And before that, we nagged the clinched champagne bottle with the Cal Raleigh signature. Oh, that's so awesome. Oh, that's so awesome. Thanks to his obviously iconic home run. So, yeah, that was, it was really strange.

to be honest because the way that we we split up the broadcast for the postseason, Rick called every game and then Dave and I alternated games. And so I had game one, Dave thus had game two. And it was just so strange rolling into Rogers Center just like anybody else. I wasn't that that day. And so fortunately, the way that the booth was set up. I was sat next to Gary the whole time. So we're having our own conversation about the game as it's going on. And we could see over Rick and Blow and Dave in the front row.

We could see the field pretty well. And we could also see a monitor. So I just remember just watching the game like almost any other fan, which was just so strange. I don't know if I've ever done that before in a booth, no less, a Mariners game at least. but that was a really special night.

You just assumed you were going to go back for game three the next day. I remember back at the hotel, we had a huge, huge celebration for everybody on the traveling party. And it was really cool hearing Scott's service talk to the whole team and their families

and literally everyone, hearing Jerry do the same thing. I remember thinking the same thing. thing I thought when I saw them clinch the wild card at home and they had the shirt champagne and they're taking the pictures on the field and from the mound. I remember thinking

this is what I see every other team do. Yeah. I've never seen the Mariners do this before. This is so real. And it was the same thing that night in the hotel when the whole traveling party was there hearing the manager

addressed the team and give basically an add a boy and a talk of we still got more to do. We still have more to accomplish. Hearing Jerry talk. I mean, it's like, oh, yeah, I've heard other guys say this, but never the guys that I cover. Yeah. And it was just, it was surreal.

It was special. It made you just really grateful for your opportunity in life to be able to be there and kind of be behind the scenes and just eat some chicken fingers in the back row and soak it all in. Those Rogers Center chicken fingers. Yeah. That, yeah, that whole night was, I mean, it's still surreal. Like, every time I go by the Rogers Center, I get chills, quite frankly. Like, it, it, all those memories of that night come flooding back. I mean, you know, again, like you said, like you, we were pretty much preparing for game three.

You know, I'm looking at tickets. I remember everyone else in my section was looking at tickets for game three. And, you know, you remember the Robbie, Robbie, those chants going on and all that. I was, I was in hell. It was awful. You know, and game one was such a breeze, right? Because, like, Castillo just shoved. They, you know, they started things out so well with the Cal home run and the Gino RBI.

They're up like 3-0. They just cruise. I'm like, man, this is the playoffs. This is sweet. Like, and then the next day, hard dose of reality. To ask you Hernandez, the two home runs, all that. But, man, just an insane game. And then couldn't, like, properly celebrate it when they tied things up.

he is, I don't know if you remember, but George Springer and Bobauch guided. The amazing thing about that injury is it gave the Mariners time to get him to get him warm. Yeah. Munoz, what now, he really, if you remember, he really struggled. He was clearly tired. But if you're Scott, you want to go to Munoz there. But how much time Springer needed allowed Scott to call the bullpen and say, get Munoz up now.

and who knows obviously thankfully Springer was okay and nobody wants to see that happen to him but if not for that catastrophe who knows right I mean who knows it completely changed the strategy of the game

and the personnel of the game as a result Goldie we've gone well over time I really appreciate you being here and sticking with us Colby do you have anything you want to ask Goldie here before we get out of here I mean, no, thanks for bringing up the game two again, though. That never gets old.

It will never get old for me. I understand it. Yeah, yeah. You also had to sit through 18 innings of game three. Yeah, yeah, game three. Yeah, I appreciate that. But no, man, just thanks for coming on. We really appreciate it.

You've been really high on our list of interview, you know, targets for a long time. And last winter, we got Jerry. So this winter, we get you. and it's greatly appreciated. The Mariners Broadcast team as a whole is just fantastic. And so it's always cool. And we can get, you know, somebody like you or Gary, you know, to hop on the pod. So I appreciate it.

Hey, guys, it's my pleasure. Thanks for all you do. I'm sure a lot of Mariners fans really appreciate it. So thanks for having me. Thanks so much, Aaron. Appreciate it. Thank you again to Aaron for being so generous with this time. Really appreciate it.

Really had a fun time with this. conversation. I hope you guys enjoyed it as well. That's going to do it for our show. Thank you so much for joining us here on the Lockdown Marrars podcast. For Colby Pat Node, I'm Tadangazas. Be sure to give us a follow on Twitter at L0 underscore Mariners. You can follow me at Ty Dane Gonzalez and Colby at CPAT 11. That's CPAT 1-1. You can also find all that stuff in the description of this episode. Thank you again for making us your first listen. Have yourself a beautiful baseball day and a beautiful baseball weekend and we'll see you next time. Peace.