Leo Lassen

The press box was a cramped, rickety cage suspended from the rafters above the spectators, where Lassen would sit with two other sports writers, and the radio announcer.

[1] Lassen once told an interviewer, “Baseball is the greatest sport ever devised by man.” His lightning-fast and incredibly accurate descriptions of the action was legendary.

One man is said to have claimed that Lassen's explanation of the infield-fly rule was so good, “even my wife understands it.” People started calling him, “Mr.

[3]” He endeared fans with his famous phrases, still known as “Lassenisms,[4]” like when he told listeners during close games, “Hang on to those rocking chairs!” In 1960, the Rainiers were purchased again, and a salary dispute ensued.

In 1975, Lassen endured several hospitalizations for lung congestion and in 1975, “The Voice” was forever silenced, leaving only his friend and housemate, Edward Egerdahl, to make his final arrangements.