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After 40 years in the Twins’ broadcast booth, Dick Bremer ready to transition to the diamond

betsy helfand, pioneer press
·3 min read

Travel across the state about 200 miles west and slightly north of the Twin Cities and you’ll run into the tiny town of Dumont, population 75. That is where Dick Bremer was raised and where he learned to love the game of baseball when he was growing up.

“The town team played in the backyard,” Bremer said. “A town that small, what is there to do? If the team’s playing, you’re going to go watch.”

The Twins’ longtime play-by-play announcer may have left the television booth after 40 seasons, but the love for the sport instilled in him while growing up in Dumont is unyielding. So it’s certainly no surprise that his retirement plans center around baseball.

“It occurred to me that all these great guys that I worked with, Harmon (Killebrew), Bert (Blyleven), Jim Kaat, all of them, Justin (Morneau), they all had great playing careers and then great broadcasting careers,” Bremer said. “I’m going to try to do it in reverse.”

Yes, Bremer has joined a senior baseball league. He’ll be playing single games on Wednesday nights and doubleheaders on Sundays.

He’ll also be around the ballpark a lot, though if the weather’s nice, the golf course might beckon. He joked that he has been told it’s possible to catch a walleye in Minnesota without having to drill a hole in the ice. He’ll finally get his chance to see — without much time off during the baseball season for the past four decades, he hasn’t had much time to do much summertime fishing, so that’s another thing he’s looking forward to with more free time.

The Twins invited Bremer and his family out to the ballpark on Thursday, where he first helped unveil the newly rededicated Dick Bremer TV Booth in the Target Field press box, yanking a red covering off a plaque bearing his image and career accomplishments.

“He really, in so many ways, knits the fabric of multiple years of Twins baseball together, from the Metrodome, ultimately, to opening Target Field and beyond,” team president and CEO Dave St. Peter said. “It’s hard to imagine there’s any broadcaster that we’ve had that has worked more tirelessly on behalf of the organization to preach the gospel of Twins baseball than Dick Bremer.”

He then continued on to the field, where fans were treated to a highlight reel of some of his signature calls. After Twins victories, Bremer would post a left-handed toast on social media, and as he got situated on the field, he raised a water bottle in his left hand to toast the crowd.

Bremer then delivered the ceremonial first pitch to Joe Mauer, whose whole career he called from the booth, to cheers from the Target Field crowd.

“I was lucky to be intimately involved with a Major League Baseball team, forget the fact that it was the team that I grew up following when I was a little kid,” Bremer said, choking up with emotions at times while he spoke. “I’ve been really blessed.”

And now, he’s ready for his next adventure.

After a career that saw him call nearly 5,000 Twins games, work alongside five hall of famers (Blyleven, Killebrew, Kaat, Paul Molitor and Jack Morris), and become the voice of Twins Territory, he’s ready to test his own talents on the diamond.

“I did my 40 years in broadcasting and now my goal is to be the oldest American League Rookie of the Year ever at age 68,” Bremer said.

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