Aaron Goldsmith, a 29-year-old native of St. Louis, will join Rick Rizzs in the radio booth for the Seattle Mariners, who have pursued replacement for the late Dave Niehaus for two years. The Mariners used a rotating group of announcers the past two seasons. The primary broadcast teams for 2013 will be Rizzs and Goldsmith on radio, and Dave Sims and Mike Blowers on TV.
“Aaron has a bright future as a broadcaster, and we believe Mariners fans in the Northwest will enjoy listening to him with Rick on 710 ESPN and the Mariners Radio Network,” vice president of communications Randy Adamack said in a release. “He will be a great fit here for many years to come.”
Goldsmith spent the 2012 season as the lead announcer for the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox, calling all 144 PawSox games. as well as handling 10 telecasts last season. He was the co-host of the weekly PawSox Insider radio show, and was the author of the highly-regarded MLB.com blog, 45 Miles from Fenway. Goldsmith was also responsible for the PawSox’ social media efforts (@AaronMGoldsmith).
In recent years, the Pawtucket club has had several of its announcers move directly to the majors, including Gary Cohen (Mets), Don Orsillo (Red Sox), Dave Flemming (Giants), Andy Freed (Rays) and Dave Jageler (Nationals). Aaron succeeded Dan Hoard, now the radio voice of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2012.
Prior to joining Pawtucket, Goldsmith spent the 2010 and 2011 seasons as the radio broadcaster for the Frisco RoughRiders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. He also served as the team’s manager of broadcasting/media development. In 2009, Aaron was the broadcaster/studio host for the Portland Sea Dogs, the Red Sox AA affiliate in the Eastern League.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the Seattle Mariners broadcast team,” said Goldsmith. “The idea of contributing to an organization with such a rich tradition on the radio is a tremendous honor and a standard I look forward to upholding. I’m eager to start working alongside Rick Rizzs and contributing to the Mariners both on and off the air.”
Goldsmith began his broadcast career in 2007 with the Gateway Grizzlies in the independent Frontier League, and called the Bourne Braves games in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2008.
Goldsmith graduated from Principia College in Elsah, IL, with a BA in history. After college he attended the Broadcast Center in St. Louis, earning a certificate in radio broadcasting and production.
5 Comments
Curious to why they didn’t just pair Rizzs with a former player to do color commentary. Maybe simply rotate Dan Wilson, Jay Buhner and Dave Henderson but it looks as though they might be grooming Goldsmith to eventually replace Rizzs as well as wanting a consistent team in the booth.
Wish they’d rotate the broadcast teams halfway thru the game like they used to so we could hear Rizzs on TV. At least occasionally or maybe at least on Sundays.
They obviously sought someone well-schooled in social media and changing technology. Radio of all kinds is steadily losing audience, even sports play by play. Knowing baseball is decreasing in importance to knowing media and tech.
Have to admit I like how Arlo White tweets during matches. Not sure if any of the M’s broadcasters, or even Huskies and Seahawks, do that.
Dave Sims of the M’s does, and on UW hoops, Jason Hamilton does.
Well, from what little I could find on the web, Goldsmith has a nice enough voice. Then again, so does Ken Wilson, but his detached delivery was almost sleep-inducing (so many guys who came up in that era copy Vin Scully’s smoooooth style but aren’t half the salesman Vin is). Hope Aaron knows that fans will forgive him for raising his voice every so often.
I’ve really liked Dave Sims when I’ve heard him call college football or basketball games on SiriusXM, but he just doesn’t do it for me with baseball. He and Blow seem to have a pretty good rapport, but I can’t get into how he calls a game.
The social media angle is a plus, Art, but some of us prefer listening to a game to reading 140-character bursts commenting on it. Of all sports, baseball may be the most radio-friendly, but it really takes a certain talent to make it work. Believe me, it isn’t the least bit easy (especially when you’re flying solo).