Rays radio announcer Wills dies suddenly

Dave Wills, one of the radio voices of the Rays for 18 years, died Sunday morning, the team announced. He was 58.

Wills, who had been in the Rays radio booth since 2005, called Saturday’s game against the Yankees with longtime radio partner Andrew Freed.

“Yesterday was like every other day for the last 18 years. Sharing. Laughs. Baseball. Fun. No way to know it was the last time. Sadness beyond words today,” Freed wrote on Twitter with a photo of the two in the booth. “It always felt like we were actual brothers. Will miss him forever. Love to him and his family.”

According to the Tampa Bay Times, Wills missed the final two weeks of the 2022 season with “a little bit of a heart situation” and was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, a type of arrhythmia, after being hospitalized in Toronto.

Wills was back in the booth for the Rays’ wild-card series against the Guardians.

The Tampa Bay Times said Wills “looked to be in good health and spirits” while calling games during spring training.

The Rays’ radio broadcast of Sunday’s game against the Orioles was canceled.

“Shocking, sad, heartbreaking covers all of it,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash, who the Times said visited Wills’ family Sunday before returning for the game. “You have a choice to certainly think about the sadness of it, but you can also think about the person that he was and what he meant to all of us.”

Wills, a Chicago native, was part of the White Sox radio team for 11 years before joining the Rays.

“Dave was an outstanding broadcaster, a great friend and an even better person,” 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 dearly and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time.”