Aaron Goldsmith (born August 29, 1983, in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

) is an American sportscaster who does lead play-by-play on selected games for

Root Sports Northwest ROOT SPORTS Northwest (stylized as ROOT SPORTS Northwest) is an American regional sports network owned as a 60/40 joint venture between the Seattle Mariners and Warner Bros. Discovery respectively, the latter of which operates it through its spo ...

during the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

season. In the

off-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, he provides play-by-play for Pac-12 basketball on

Fox Sports 1 Fox Sports 1 (FS1) is an American pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. FS1 replaced the motorsports network Speed on August 17, 2013, at the same time that its companion channel Fox Sports 2 ...

Early years

Goldsmith was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. He obtained a History degree from

Principia College Principia College (Principia or Prin) is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." "Although the College is not affiliated wit ...

Elsah, Illinois Elsah is a village in Jersey County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total population of 519. Michael Pitchford is the village's current acting mayor. It is the home of Principia College. Elsah is a part of the Metro-East reg ...

Career

Upon graduation, Goldsmith began play-by-play broadcasting as an intern for

Gateway Grizzlies The Gateway Grizzlies are a professional baseball team based in the St. Louis suburb of Sauget, Illinois, in the United States. The Grizzlies are a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, which is a partner league of Major League Baseb ...

games. In 2007, Goldsmith provided 2-innings of play-by-play for each home game. Goldsmith followed this up with an unpaid internship with the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park on the c ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

, and then a similar position with the

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

. In all cases, Goldsmith called select games or innings. Goldsmith often found himself starving after calling games. After a brief time with the Sea Dogs, Goldsmith worked as the play-by-play voice for the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

. He also served as the team's manager of broadcasting and public relations. Goldsmith remained with the RoughRiders for two seasons. During his time with the RoughRiders, Goldsmith proposed to his wife, Heather, and she accepted. In 2012, Goldsmith was hired to be the play-by-play voice for the

Pawsox Radio Network The Pawsox Radio Network was the radio network of the Pawtucket Red Sox, a Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. There were 12 stations (nine A.M. and three F.M.) and three F.M. translators in the network, including the flagsh ...

. Goldsmith provided play-by-play for every game that season, a first for himself. Goldsmith admits he joined the PawSox because of their history of producing big-name announcers; he knew that was not guaranteed. In 2013, Goldsmith joined the Mariners announcing team alongside

Rick Rizzs Rick Rizzs (born November 17, 1953) is an American sportscaster and is the lead radio voice for Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners. Early life and career Rizzs is from Blue Island, Illinois, where he attended Eisenhower High School, and h ...

. Goldsmith and his family now live in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. Goldsmith's play-by-play style is often attributed to an adaptation of

Vin Scully Vincent Edward Scully (November 29, 1927 – August 2, 2022) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for his 67 seasons calling games for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, beginning in 1950 (when the franchise was located ...

, but Goldsmith attributes his style to his work with

Eric Nadel Eric Nadel (born May 16, 1951) is a sports announcer on radio broadcasts for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers baseball organization. In 2014, he was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence by the National Basebal ...

and Dave O'Brien. On December 26, 2021, he was a last-minute substitution for Gus Johnson, teaming with

Aqib Talib Aqib Talib (born February 13, 1986) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at the University of Kansas, where he received consensus All-American honors, and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first rou ...

for an

NFL on FOX The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by ''Fox NFL Kickoff ...

game in Seattle between the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. Goldsmith has yet to win the Washington State Sportscaster of the Year award, three times losing out to famed Mariners Broadcaster Dave Sims. In January 2023, Goldsmith elected to remain with the Mariners after being the St. Louis Cardinals' top candidate for their lead TV job. During a 2023 Spring Training interview, Goldsmith's broadcast partner Gary Hill revealed that Goldsmith plans to debut the catchphrase "How do you do?!" for big calls during the season, although he's yet to use it.

References

External links

Seattle Mariners
– Broadcasters {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, Aaron 1983 births Living people American radio personalities American sports announcers Cape Cod Baseball League College basketball announcers in the United States College football announcers Major League Baseball broadcasters Minor League Baseball broadcasters National Football League announcers Principia College alumni Seattle Mariners announcers Radio personalities from St. Louis Women's college basketball announcers in the United States