Mariners Black History Month Front Office Profile: Dave Sims
Dave Sims is entering his 15th season with the Mariners broadcast team. In January, he was named Washington Sportscaster of the Year for the state of Washington by the National Sports Media Association for the third consecutive year. He is a two-time Emmy Award winner, and won the American Football Foundation’s Outstanding Sportscaster Award in 2003 and the Big East Media Award in 2005.
Dave grew up in Philadelphia and graduated from Bethany College in West Virginia where he was elected to the board of trustees in 2019. He currently resides in New York City with his wife Abby. They have two sons and two granddaughters.
During his time with the Mariners, Dave has been a committed advocate for the Black community, hosting events like the Mariners Jackie Robinson Day Roundtable and the Mariners Black Voices in Baseball Panel in 2020, in addition to numerous other events throughout his career.
What was your path like getting to where you are now?
I’ve done a little of everything. I had an internship at the Philadelphia Inquirer for three years, and they gave me bylines after the first week. Then I got an opportunity with the New York Daily News. A chance to go to the media capital of the world at 22-years-old, I jumped on it and I’ve lived here ever since. At the Daily News, I covered college football and college basketball. Later on, I covered the Nets and the Knicks, and filled in for the Yankees and Mets. I produced and did backup reporting at NBC Philly at KYW. I did national radio updates. I think it was like two-a-day for $30. Then I got my huge break at WNBC radio hosting an evening talk show. MSG liked what I was doing so we started simulcasting the show during the summers. NBC Sports, went to the Olympics. I mean, man I’ve been lucky. I did the Tampa Bay Bucs pre-season for five or six years, did the Eagles for one year, and I got to the Mariners in 2007.
Reporter, columnist, producer, part-time anchor, full-time anchor, play-by-play guy. I’ve checked a lot of boxes.
What is your favorite story from your time with the Mariners?
With Nelson Cruz in 2018, in September, when he hit that game-tying home run. My oldest son was in the booth with me and he said, “I’ve never seen you go so nuts.” My whole body was shaking, I had my fist pumping, I was going absolutely crazy.
Obviously the Félix Perfecto was huge. I had done the Perfect Game against us during that same season, but when Félix did it, it was over the top. He was rollin’, he was at the peak of his career, it was just so cool. And there he is on a gorgeous Wednesday, it was perfect. Dan Wilson and I called that.
Ichiro walking off Mariano, that was big.
What do you like to do when you aren’t in the office/booth?
Well, as we sit here right now, I’ve got my workout clothes on. I’m getting ready to jump on the Peloton. I think I’ll do a long one today, maybe 45 minutes to an hour. I love golf. I love my movies. I used to know like every movie star in every movie. I’ve been super focused on the political scene. I like going on YouTube and rewatching old broadcasts, listening to the old-timers and paying attention to the tempo and story telling ability of the guys I grew up admiring. Long walks through Central Park here in Manhattan, those are the best. I love the theater, and I have two granddaughters now, so I love hanging out with them.
What has your experience been like as a minority working in sports?
Man, I’ve been the only Black guy in almost every place I’ve been. I’d have to look this up, but I believe I’m the fifth or sixth African American to be a TV announcer for a Major League ballclub. I’m in jobs that guys never aspired to because they didn’t think they’d have a chance. Or, guys tried and got shot down, and I was just lucky to get through. That enhances my admiration for Jackie Robinson and that generation of Black Americans. I know my maternal great-great grandparents were born slaves. It’s freaky. I’ve seen all of the struggles growing up in Philly in the 60’s. Same here in New York. I haven’t seen all of the overt stuff like you hear about people in the south going through. But even things in the north aren’t anything to write home about.
My heart just aches when I read these stories. This past summer, that was as bad as anything from the 60’s. I’ve known people who have been involved in the kind of thing you see on the news. It just humbles the heck out of you. I just have tremendous love and appreciation for the people who went through that. And you can bring it back to baseball. The stuff than Hank Aaron went through, the stuff Jackie Robinson went through, I’m unbelievably lucky to be where I am right now.
What kind of advice would you give to people hoping following in your footsteps?
Well number one, make sure you have good command of the language. Read well, write well, speak well. Present well and know your subject matter. Keep your nose down and grind, arrive early and leave late. Just have pride in what you do.
One thing I really try to bring to the game is joy for what I do. It’s not brain surgery and that’s why I got into it. We get to work at a ballpark for goodness sake. I don’t prep before a game, I prep 24/7.
Is there anything you want to share specifically in relation to Black History Month?
Well, it’s like so many parts of American history. There’s a lot of good, but lets not sweep all the bad under the rug. A lot of bad stuff happened there, so let’s learn from it and make sure we don’t repeat it.
I hope the events of this summer opened some eyes, and I hope people keep them open. We can’t just move on. It’s still going on.
I want to challenge people to get to know Black history because that’s American history. Honestly, I probably wasn’t aware of most of it before high school or college because it was never taught. If you don’t have a Black friend, you may want to go out and find one and talk to them.
There’s so much history out there. Get to know it. We’re always taught European history, but there’s such a wealth of knowledge and information out there in Black history that people need to know.
What can Major League Baseball do to start better reaching the Black community?
Well, baseball has lost its universal appeal to the Black community. It used to seem like everyone played some form of baseball. Now that’s just not the case. It’s so expensive now. I know the Mariners are doing their part and MLB is doing its part, but I think we need to market our sport to reach a younger demographic.
Baseball is the ultimate father-son sport. Just go out back and play catch with your dad. And sociologically, with the incarceration rate of the Black population, we don’t have that continuity that we used to have.
But over the last couple years, the numbers are ticking up, and we’ve been fortunate to have so many African American players here with the Mariners.
