After spending 27 years as an announcer for the Angels, Giants, and Mariners, Ron Fairly will retire from his job with the Mariners. Fairly also played in the major leagues for 21 years.
Having lived in the Pacific Northwest most of my life, I have listed to Ron Fairly broadcasting Mariners games for quite a long time. I can't speak to his days with the Angels and Giants, but I thought Fairly was average at play-by-play, but a solid color analyst. He drew from his experiences as a ball player and would talk frankly about the strategy of the game. His biggest strength was pointing out when a player made a "productive" out or helped the team with a play that would not show up in the box score. He also had some predictive abilities where he could say that on a certain count, a certain player should be going the other way, etc., and undoubtably he would. He was good at comparing how the game was played then to now, and it never felt that he was just an old guy lamenting the good old days.
The big question in Seattle would be that now Fairly is stepping aside, when will Dave Niehaus?
I remember Fairly in the glory days of the 60's Dodgers. He had a great World Series against the Twins in 1965. Sandy was the MVP of that W.S. and deservedly so for pitching the shutouts in games 5 and 7, but Ron Fairly was the Dodger hitting star.
Too bad the Dodgers did not bring him back later in his career. He was an outstanding pinch hitter. Fairly and Manny Mota would have given the Dodgers an outstanding bench in the 70's.
Stan from Tacoma
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The big question in Seattle would be that now Fairly is stepping aside, when will Dave Niehaus?
It did not suit him well. The Angels always gave him a one-year deal and he would commute to games in Anaheim from Calabasas.
If you're not from Southern California, I will tell you that that is a very long way.
Too bad the Dodgers did not bring him back later in his career. He was an outstanding pinch hitter. Fairly and Manny Mota would have given the Dodgers an outstanding bench in the 70's.
Stan from Tacoma
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