Congratulations, Dave Niehaus!

My, oh, my...what a nice birthday gift:

Happy birthday, Dave Niehaus, you're headed for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Niehaus, a fixture in the Seattle Mariners' booth since they entered the American League as an expansion franchise in 1977, was named the 2008 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award Tuesday and will be honored at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies July 27 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y.

The news came on Niehaus' 73rd birthday. It marked the second consecutive year that the award for major contributions to baseball broadcasting has been won by an announcer who has covered his club since its inception. Niehaus follows Denny Matthews, the broadcaster for the Kansas City Royals since their debut season of 1969.

Added the Mariners' front office:

"I have had the pleasure of listening to Dave since I arrived in Seattle in 1983," Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said in a statement from the team. "More importantly, it has been my good fortune to become good friends with Dave. There is no announcer more deserving of this honor than Dave. His integrity and love of the game is unquestioned. It's terrific that the rest of the country will now know what we have known in the Northwest for a long time: Dave has been a Hall of Famer his whole career."

During his 31 seasons with the Mariners, Niehaus has called 4,817 of their 4,899 games.

Dave Niehaus adds something special to broadcasts of Mariners games. Even when the team is losing, he manages to make tuning in worthwhile. We're thrilled that he'll be recognized as a Hall of Famer this year.