The person most synonymous with Seattle baseball has called the play-by-play for more than 5,000 Major League games.

Dave Niehaus needs no introduction to Mariners fans. He's simply "The Voice."

A couple of generations have grown up in the Northwest listening to Niehaus describe the game and the characters in it. He has a book full of stories, and he spent some time recently reflecting on some tales of Christmases gone by.

He grew up in Princeton, Ind., where the December holiday was a special time.

MLB.com: What was Christmas like at the Niehaus house when you were a kid?

Niehaus: Although on occasion we did, very rarely did we have a white Christmas. We always wanted snow on the ground for Christmas. I grew up in a rather religious background and we would go to midnight services on Christmas Eve and I sang in the choir as a kid. We never had a heck of a lot of money. I can remember wanting an electric train, but my dad never had the money to get me one. To this day, I've never had an electric train. But I did get a red wagon when I was 5 or 6 years old, one of those Radio Red Flyers. I will never forget that. I was so happy. It was a time when we would have family get-togethers and things like that.

MLB.com: When did you open the gifts?

Niehaus: I don't know why, but we always opened our presents on Christmas Eve. I don't know if that was a Midwestern tradition or not, but that's what we did at our house. Of course, the following morning Santa would leave something under the tree. Christmas Day was the time for a big dinner with the entire family. For the past 25 or 30 years, we opened almost all of the presents on Christmas morning.

MLB.com: What is your favorite Christmas tradition?

Niehaus: After our Christmas Eve dinner, my wife Marilyn gives every member of the family a trinket to put on the tree. It has been a tradition of ours for years and years and years. Another of our favorites is decorating the tree and the house. Our tree is up and ready for our kids and grandkids, who are from 2 years old to 15, to get here and I can't wait. We have three grandkids coming from England and the three that we have here. The three [from England] will be coming and be here through the holidays. But decorating the house is my favorite tradition. Marilyn is real big on decorations and she already has the house looking like something out of a magazine. We have a little train around the tree, a little carousel that plays Christmas music. It's very festive.

MLB.com: What's your favorite Christmas song?

Niehaus: It's always been "Silent Night." In fact, a couple of years ago, Marilyn and I went to Germany and went to this little town in Austria called Obendorf. I remember from my childhood that my mother told me the man who wrote "Silent Night, Holy Night" was from Obendorf. Anyway, we were on a bus tour and came into the town of Obendorf. There were houses painted with children's stories and all of a sudden it started snowing. I mean it was just beautiful. The snowflakes looked more like snowballs falling on this little village in the Bavaria Alps.

The bus stopped, we got out, and I went into this little store hoping the owner spoke English. I asked him if this was the town where the guy who wrote "Silent Night, Holy Night" lived and he said, "Yes it is." The whole place was so beautiful, like magic, and it made the memory of my mother telling me that story even more vivid. It was something I won't forget as long as I live.

MLB.com: How far was it to grandmother's house?

Niehaus: It was about 25 miles to both of my grandparents, but we usually stayed home on Christmas Day.

MLB.com: Which is better, the quality of gifts or the quantity of gifts?

Niehaus: I certainly think the quality is best. Kids get so much these days they open one, don't even look at what it is, and open another. To be honest, it's getting too materialistic for me.

MLB.com: What is the best gift you have ever received, and given?

Niehaus: I think getting the wagon meant more than anything because I wanted one so bad. I don't know if you would consider this "giving," but I got married the day after Christmas 45 years ago. Marilyn drove to Las Vegas and believe it or not the night we got married we went to a show and saw Don Drysdale, Maury Wills and Wes Parker doing a song and dance act. At the time I didn't know them at all. Don became my best friend in baseball and Wills managed the Mariners. Can you believe that?

MLB.com: Do you have an all-time favorite Christmas movie?

Niehaus: The Jimmy Stewart movie with Donna Reed, "It's a Wondeful Life," and "Miracle on 34th Street" are my favorites.

MLB.com: Do you spoil the grandkids more than your children?

Niehaus: Absolutely, I spoil my grandkids more than my kids.

MLB.com: If your wife could get you the perfect gift this year, what would it be?

Niehaus: It would be many more years with her.

MLB.com: Finally, Dick Williams is a great friend of yours, so what would it mean to be in the same Hall of Fame induction class as the Ford Frick Award winner?

Niehaus: We talked about that when Dick was elected. He said, "I hope to see you there in July." As you know, this is the sixth straight year that I am a finalist, and it would really be something special to go in with him, it really would, after the friendship we've had over the years.