David Sims (born February 14, 1953) is an Americansportscaster. He is the radioplay-by-play commentator for theNew York Yankees ofMajor League Baseball (MLB). He was previously the television play-by play commentator for MLB'sSeattle Mariners and a radio broadcaster of professional and college football and college basketball.
Sims began his career as an intern for thePhiladelphia Inquirer,[4][6] then becoming a sportswriter for theNew York Daily News. In the early 1980s, he was a sports reporter for the short lived "Satellite News Channel". Moving to radio, Sims became the host ofWNBC'sSportsNight (1986–1988) (replacingJack Spector), a five-hour nightly sports call-in show that was a precursor to the all-sports talk format ofWFAN.[5] He was hired byMichael Weisman as a reporter coveringtrack and field forNBC Sports' telecast of the1988 Summer Olympics.[8] He went on to cohost the midday show withEd Coleman on WFAN in New York from September 1989 to February 1993. He then became a weekend sports anchor atWCBS-TV inNew York (1995–1998) and also was a radio host for theNew York Knicks (1986–1993).[9]
Sims' play-by-play announcing career began (1990–1992) as the radio voice ofTemple Owls football.[10] He creditedBill Cosby, a Temple alumnus and supporter, for getting him that job.[6]
Moving to TV, Sims was the TV voice of theBig East Conference football game of the week (1993–1994) and then again (1998–2007).
In1991, Sims joinedESPN as a play-by-play announcer forcollege basketball and addedcollege football in1998. He primarily called Big East contests on theESPN Plus regional network. He continued to broadcast college basketball games forFOX andFS1 beginning in 2016.
Sims was the #2 broadcaster forNFL on Westwood One Sports's Sunday afternoon doubleheader before taking the permanent play-by-play position on theSunday Night Football radio broadcast.[11] He replacedJoel Meyers on theSunday Night Football game in 2006 and called games through the 2012 season. From 2013 to 2014, Sims returned to Sunday Afternoon NFL action while working with former NFL quarterbackMark Malone.
In addition toSunday Night Football, Sims also called college basketball forWestwood One (1998–2015),[12] with one of his most notable calls being theGeorge Mason–UConnregional final in 2006, when #11 seed George Mason upset top-seed Connecticut to become the second #11 seed ever to reach theFinal Four.[13]
While working in other sports, Sims occasionally providedMajor League Baseball play-by-play forESPN (1993–1994)[5] and did an internet radio show forMLB.com (1999–2000). In2007, he returned to baseball full-time as part of theSeattle Mariners television broadcast. Sims is one of the few African-American broadcasters in the history of the sport.[14] He became the team's primary TV broadcaster following the legendaryDave Niehaus's death in 2010.[15] His broadcast partner was former Marinersthird basemanMike Blowers.[7] Sims and Blowers did not travel with the team to Japan at the start of the2012 season, calling the games from a studio near Seattle.[16]
In 2009, Sims was the television play-by-play commentator for theUFL onVersus.[17]
Sims became the play-by-play broadcaster for the Swingman Classic, held before theMLB All-Star Game, starting in 2023.[20][21]
Sims is the former co-host ofBasketball and Beyond with Coach K withMike Krzyzewski onSiriusXM.[22] They met in the late 1970s, when Krzyzewski coached theArmy basketball team. Krzyzewski later recommended Sims for the Mariners' job.[15]
"Holy Mackerel"/"How about that?"- used for exciting plays.[9]
”Bro-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-ther.” - used after a particularly dispiriting loss or play.
”Got him!” - used after a pitcher strikes out an opposing batter.
Sims is a staunch believer in letting his audience know when a pitcher is working on ano-hitter. "I have to tell the audience what’s going on…if a guy’s throwing a no-no, I have to report it."[29][24]
Sims had surgery to remove his prostate in January 2016.[19] He ruptured his Achilles tendon in April 2018 during a basketball game withRick Rizzs.[30]
Sims is known for wearing a hat in the broadcast booth. He began wearing hats afterSan Diego Padres broadcasterMark Grant introduced him to a hat store in Southern California. The Mariners held promotions related to Sims' hats, later in his tenure, would film Sims broadcasting and post clips on social media.[4][3] Sims briefly sold hats online.[5][31]
Sims is married and has two children and a grandchild. He has hosted a podcast "Hey Now," with his sons. He lives in New York City during the offseason.[5][9][30][32]
