Long-time Tampa Bay radio broadcaster Dave Wills dies aged 58

The Tampa Bay Rays announced that former commentator Dave Wills passed away Sunday morning at the age of 58.

Wills had been in the booth for the team since 2005, calling Saturday’s Spring Training game against the New York Yankees with regular broadcast partner Andrew Freed.

“Yesterday was like any other day for the past 18 years. To share. laughs. Basketball. Pleasure. No way of knowing it was the last time. Sadness without words today,” Freed wrote on Twitter with a photo of the two in the booth.

“It always felt like we were real brothers. Will miss him forever. Love for him and his family.

The Rays radio broadcast for Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles was canceled following news of Wills’ death.

He spent 18 years as one of the team’s two radio broadcasters after working for the White Sox

Wills missed the final two weeks of the 2022 season with a heart arrhythmia after being hospitalized in Toronto, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

“Shocking, sad, heartbreaking covers it all,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash, who, according to The Times, visited Wills’ family on Sunday before returning for the game.

“You have a choice to certainly think about the sadness of it, but you also get to think about the person he was and what he meant to all of us.”

Wills was from Chicago and worked as part of the White Sox radio team for 11 years before joining the Rays organization.

“Dave was an excellent announcer, a great friend and an even better human being,” Rays owner Stuart Sternberg said in a statement.

“He had a remarkable talent for bringing the game to life for our fans and was a vital part of the Rays family. We will miss him very much and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”

Wills suffered a cardiac arrhythmia at the end of the 2022 season, but soon returned to the booth