Tuesday, July 13, 1999

By ANGELO BRUSCAS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

"Look out Royal Brougham! It's belted out of the park and headed your way!"

The melodious voice of Dave Niehaus has yet to call a game in Safeco Field, but the Mariners' veteran radio and TV play-by-play announcer of 22 years can already hear the new sights and sounds of baseball like he's never experienced here in Seattle.

Niehaus

"Can you just imagine that alabaster ball against the light blue sky?" Niehaus asked yesterday, preparing for Safeco's inaugural game while the M's have three days off for the All-Star break. "It's just going to be unbelievable."

There will be train whistles to contend with, winds that buffet the flight of long fly balls, blue skies, the Seattle skyline, the star-filled nights, the chilly evenings under the big moveable umbrella-like roof.

For Niehaus, moving into Safeco Field promises to be one of the most momentous occasions of his life.

"I would say with the exception of my wedding and the birth of my kid, this will be the biggest day of my life," he said.

The sights and sounds of baseball will be entirely different from the moment the gates open Thursday night. Safeco's official opening will be preceded by a blast of a Washington State Ferry horn at exactly 4:05 p.m.

Niehaus can't wait, after calling over 1,500 games in the Kingdome since becoming the M's announcer in 1977, the first year of the club's existence.

"We've played laboratory baseball for 22 1/2 years," he said of games in the Kingdome. But even though it has been blamed for the Mariners' troubles at the gate and on the field, the Kingdome will always have a special place in Niehaus' heart.

"The Kingdome has served its purpose. It was a magnificent arena as far as I'm concerned, and it will always be beautiful to me," Niehaus said. "It's not the warty old hag that everybody has made it out to be.

"But Safeco Field is going to be heaven on earth."

He particularly likes the sounds of trains passing alongside the new stadium's right-field section and under the roof canopy when the structure is open. The only trouble with the train whistles, he notes, is that they might overpower the Seattle Symphony, which will be playing for pregame opening ceremonies.

Niehaus believes that the train whistles are one of the most enduring aspects of the new stadium. It reminds him of his childhood, listening to baseball on the radio in his native southern Indiana with the trains rolling along in the distance.

"I said from the beginning when I first walked over there that the train whistles would be the signature of the ballpark," Niehaus said. "To me, that is a very romantic sound. It conjures up incredible memories to me."

According to Burlington Northern, about five trains will pass by Safeco Field during each game, and the trains normally blow two long whistles, followed by a short blast and another long one as they go through the intersection at Royal Brougham Way.

Niehaus isn't yet sure if the whistles will disrupt his play-by-play banter.

"Probably by the time the year ends, I'll probably know the time schedule pretty well," Niehaus laughed.

He's also looking forward to calling the first home run to leave the park, which can occur in left field with Royal Brougham Way located just beyond the fence.

"My candidate for the one to hit the first ball out of the ballpark would be Jay Buhner," Niehaus said of the M's right-handed slugger. "A home run can't leave the ballpark in right field, but it can in left field. It takes about a 475-foot to 480-foot blast to get it out on Royal Brougham way, and it will be done."

To Niehaus, Safeco is much more than just a stadium. It's a lasting symbol of the effort it took to keep major league baseball from leaving the Seattle market altogether.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Mariners saved baseball in 1995 after the strike," Niehaus said. "They kind of became America's team, so to speak, even though they did get beat by Cleveland (in the American League championship series). I have always said that this is a great baseball community."

Now that the new stadium is opening, Niehaus also would love to call games in the postseason again, just like in 1995. He puts the onus on team management to field a contender now and well into the future.

"The fans don't owe the Mariners anything," Niehaus said. "The Mariners owed them a competitive ballclub, and they still do today, perhaps even more so now that they have this new stadium."

With the team shifting stadiums in midseason, Niehaus wonders what affect it will have on how the club plays on the field. He's certain the M's won't hit as many home runs but says opposing teams also shouldn't hit as many homers off M's pitching.

"The Mariners are the only team for a long time that will have two distinctly different seasons: one indoors, one outdoors; one on carpet, one on grass; one with the elements, one without the elements," Niehaus said. "It will have a definite affect on our pitchers, but it will have an effect on other pitchers, too, though. I think it will be a fair ballpark."

As someone who has been to nearly every major league ballpark, Niehaus finds many other things to like about Safeco Field, such as the elevated bullpens that are located directly below the left-field bleachers.

"It will be interesting to see what kind of rabbit ears they have out there, because fans can lean right over in those bullpens and really get on those relief pitchers," Niehaus said.

He also likes the open concourses and features like the Kids Zone in center field, where parents can take their restless children and still watch the game.

"You literally can walk entirely around the stadium and not miss a single pitch," Niehaus said.

Asked how it compares with the likes of Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Coors Field in Denver or Camden Yards in Baltimore, Niehaus did not hesitate to put Safeco in a class by itself: "I just think it's going to be the best stadium in baseball."

Rumor has it that he also might be the relief pitcher to replace Sen. Slade Gorton as the choice to throw out the first pitch at Safeco. Gorton bowed out last week, citing legislative duties, and Niehaus has been listed as the likely candidate.

Yesterday, M's spokeswoman Rebecca Hale said the choice was up to team owners, but they had not announced who would do the first-pitch honors. Niehaus also wasn't saying.

"It's rumor only, and nobody has contact me," Niehaus said.

Niehaus, however, is listed as a main part of the pregame ceremonies and will give a reading from some of his favorite pieces of baseball literature. And even though he's survived a heart attack in recent years, his arm is in fine shape should the call come his way for the first-pitch honors.