From before spring training in 1977 until the end of the 2010 season, Dave Niehaus served as the Seattle Mariners baseball team's play-by-play commentator for the first 34 seasons.  

When the Mariners' new ballpark opened in 1999, he was chosen to toss the ceremonial first pitch before the first game at Safeco Field because he was so well-liked by his radio and television audiences.  The Major League Baseball community held him in such high regard that he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  

Fans liked him so much that many flocked to the ballpark to mourn and pay tribute to him when he unexpectedly passed away at home from a heart attack five weeks after the season's final game.

Listen now to learn more about the legendary voice that defined the Seattle Mariners and our State's love affair with baseball!

In his birthplace of Seattle, columnist and publicist Leo Lassen became a living legend while working as a baseball radio host. From 1931 until 1960, he covered the Pacific Coast League team in the city. When the Seattle Rainiers played in Sicks' Seattle Stadium, his heyday took off at the same time the teams success did. Lassen was the voice of baseball in the Emerald City, the most important game in town at the time. 

He was well-known around the city for his quick-fire delivery, which was full of detail and baseball knowledge. After a pay dispute ruined his broadcasting job, he withdrew into his own world and never returned to the ballpark where he had gained notoriety. He was a lifelong bachelor who tended to his mother and his roses at home in Wallingford during his retirement.

Listen now to learn more about the long time voice of the Seattle Rainiers!

The humble hop is a vital aspect of Washington's early economic history, even if the dairy, coal, and lumber sectors all played larger and more important roles. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Yakima Valley's charming green bines—hop vine cones—that grow high on trellises contributed to the creation of agricultural commerce hubs and wealth accumulation. 

Beginning with plantings in Western Washington in the middle of the 1860s, the hop industry grew rapidly. The crop started to attract attention as production increased and there was proof of high-quality hops. The New York Times reported in September 1891 that "Washington is the only State in the Union where hop growing is carried on with more success than in Washington." 

Listen now to learn more about this fascinating Evergreen State crop!

Please accept my apologies for not releasing new content for the last month or so, I had to move and deal with everything else that comes along with that. The plan is to return to weekly episode releases like normal from here on out I'm all moved in and unpacked, so I'm excited to start podcasting again. Thank you for your continued support over the years.

This episode is a continuation of the monthly series, Governor's of the Evergreen State

The seventh Lieutenant Governor and ninth Governor of the Evergreen State, Louis F. Hart was born in High Point, Missouri in 1862. He would relocate to Washington after completing his legal studies in Missouri as a young man. He later went on to chair the Selective Service Appeals Board for Southwest Washington and presided over the State Senate during the first World War. 

In 1912, he was elected Lieutenant Governor, and in 1916, he would be re-elected . He was sworn in as governor in 1919 following Earnest Lister's death, and would be elected in his own right in 1920. In addition to supporting better roadway systems and a state highway patrol, Hart oversaw the construction of the new Capitol complex while serving as governor. In addition, he was in charge of restructuring the state's administrative system, cutting the number of agencies from 75 to 10. 

Listen now to learn more about this mostly forgotten figure in the political history of the Evergreen State

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