Niehaus would have loved this team

Several days before Dave Niehaus was to begin what sadly would be his last season of calling Seattle Mariners baseball, we had lunch in a hotel coffee shop in Albuquerque.

Former Washington basketball player Scott Didrickson, a radio analyst for University of New Mexico hoops, joined us. Didrickson was so excited to meet Niehaus, it almost seemed as if he had pregame jitters as we waited in the lobby.

The Mariners were playing one of their final exhibition games that night against Colorado and snow flurries were in the forecast and honestly I was a little worried about Dave's mood.

What if he was grouchy? Who could have blamed him? I mean the idea of broadcasting this game seemed pointless. A late-March exhibition game in New Mexico was the definition of meaningless.

But typical Niehaus, he greeted Scott and me with hearty handshakes and a dozen stories. Scott was as wide-eyed as a freshman communications major.

Another season was about to begin and Dave couldn't wait for Felix Hernandez's first pitch in Oakland.

But even more than 2010, Dave was excited about the Mariners' future. He had spent the spring watching players like pitcher Michael Pineda and second baseman Dustin Ackley.

"You're gonna love this kid Pineda," Dave told Didrickson. "Everybody's talking about (Washington's rookie starter Stephen) Strasburg, well this kid Pineda is our Strasburg. He might be even better than Strasburg. The kid isn't afraid of anything. He'll be in the rotation next year."

I thought about that lunch last week as I watched Pineda pitch masterfully again in a 1-0 loss to Washington. And it occurred to me that Dave Niehaus would have loved this season's Mariners.

This team is tailor-made for Dave. He would have loved calling each of these one-run games. He would have made every ninth-inning cliffhanger sound like something that belonged on "Masterpiece Theater." We would have savored every narrative.

These M's would have been Dave's M's. Even their frustrating flaws would have played perfectly into his in-game commentaries.

Imagine how he would have described the called third strike Chone Figgins took to end last Wednesday's loss to the Nationals. He barely would have been able to repress his anger at Figgins. We would have heard the disgust that would have been the glaze on his call.

But more than the flaws of this team, Niehaus would have been able to put a fine point on the hope that the team has brought to the city.

When Ackley hit his first big-league home run into the right-field seats against the Phillies a week ago, I found myself wishing Dave could have made that call.

Every time Miguel Olivo slugs a clutch homer, as he did again Friday, I can almost hear Dave's voice climbing higher, making the moment feel especially important.

This isn't meant as a criticism of the Mariners' 2011 broadcast team. The rotating team of voices has been as surprisingly enjoyable to listen to as the team has been to watch.

But I think, as this season continued, fans would have spent their afternoons anticipating Dave's play-by-play as much as they would have anticipated the team's play.

Dave would have admired the fire in Olivo as the Mariners catcher dived across first base in an extra-inning game with the Yankees. I suspect shortstop Brendan Ryan's Gashouse Gang-style of baseball would have triggered a gaggle of Niehaus tales about some of his favorite bloody-and-bruised players.

Dave always was a play-by-play poet, and I find myself wishing I could hear him describe one of Carlos Peguero's vicious left-handed cuts. Or listen to him set the scene; two on, two out and closer Brandon League ready to deliver the climactic pitch.

He had a bird dog's eye for talent. He would have understood what outfielder Greg Halman could mean to this team. He would have told us who Ackley reminded him of and just how good Pineda might be.

We all knew we were going to miss Dave Niehaus this season. But I doubt many of us expected the first half of this season to be so much fun. And now we're left wondering how much spicier this season would have been with him.

This is a Dave Niehaus kind of team. And this would have been his kind of season.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com