Dick Bremer, Iconic Voice of the Minnesota Twins, Steps Back from Play-By-Play

[East Coast Twin]

6 hours ago, RpR said:

As I said it has been too long, but I used to watch his matinee movie very often.

I remember "There's a brand new method in carpet cleaning!!"

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I have enjoyed watching over a thousand Twins games with my friend, Dick. I looked forward to our visits. He is a kind, gregarious,  entertaining friend with lots of baseball wisdom. His well written book spoke volumes about his excellent  life  values. I will really miss  his company. He has become a good friend. Best wishes to you my friend. If you are ever in North Carolina, look me up. You can find me on Google and Facebook. I know where there are some largemouth bass just waiting to meet you. Thanks for the memories. David Benbow, Statesville, NC

[Wizard11]

I grew up listening to Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall on the radio.  They helped me fall in love with baseball and the Twins.  Dick Bremer had reached that iconic status for me in recent years.  He seemed kind of stiff and like a company man during the Blyleven era but it felt like he had loosened up and showed more of his personality since then.  It felt like he was getting better with each year.  He is such an encyclopedia of Twins history.  

If Corey Provus does get the job I hope loses his lame attempt at a signature home run call….”back it goes, deep it goes”….blech, it sounds so scripted and wooden.  I like him otherwise.

It seems weird to me to push Bremer out but then to potentially retain Gladden as a broadcaster for whom English is a second language.  My teenage son does love listening to Gladden just to hear how he is going to mangle the names of opposing players.  It really delights him.

 

[Karbo]

11 hours ago, Western SD Fan said:

I want to first congratulate Dick on a successful career and happy trails into a reduced retirement role with the Twins.  One thing that this organization does right is to keep their long-term people in the family as long as they want to participate.  I agree with a couple of commenters that I hope they write some kind of day-to-day contract for Dick to get to 5,000 games.  While that shouldn't matter and he pointed out in his announcement that it doesn't matter, I believe it is important for him to someday get into the Baseball Hall of Fame, where I believes he belongs someday.

The best part of his broadcasts were the stories and the memories to recall events from nearly every era of baseball in Minnesota.

With that being said, here's my two cents on possible replacements for Mr. Bremer:

Obvious front-runner should be Cory Provus. Being the radio announcer and his TV experience with the Big 10 Network is plenty and we are definitely used to Cory in Twins Territory.

Other possibilities are:  Marney Gellner - I honestly thought she was being prepped for the position when they experimented with her calling spring training games a few years ago. Again, another familiar voice that has earned an opportunity.  I am not sure with her home life if she wants the commitment of February to October on the road.  She will do what is best for her and her family and I have always wished her the best of luck. 

Jenny Cavar from the Rockies.  She seems to do a good job when I watch Rockies broadcasts.  She only does it part time so maybe she would be willing to move for a full-time gig.

Jon Sciambi - this is dreaming......

Thom Brennaman - probably not because of his baggage, but still a good announcer.

I would also like them to settle on a color commentator.  I still would prefer a player or someone who has been involved in the game for a long time (calling Ron Gardenhire). My preference is Latroy Hawkins or Trevor Plouffe.  I believe that Morneau and Perkins are just too pedantic, like reading a textbook to me.  While I don't want the reincarnation of Hawk Harrelson, someone closer to Bert's liveliness would be beneficial.  Plouffe has too many other ventures going and doesn't seem to be on many broadcasts outside of California to probably want a full-time color gig.

This post looks closer to a quarter than two cents, but here it is.

His knowledge of the Twins history was great. Really enjoyed Dick for the last 40.

[SF Twins Fan]

There is very little chance this was a mutual decision or a decision Dick, which really bums me out and puts a negative light on the Twins management.  He's said for a long, long time he wanted to get to 5,000 games and they didn't allow him to do that.  They didn't allow him to say goodbye over the air, which is how it should have been done.  To push out such a well liked person like Dick is just a poor decision.

[Trov]

Next season will be crazy.  He was the voice for the Twins my whole life.  I am sure the team wants a younger more analytical type guy.  Dick tried his best to embrace the push to the new ways of looking at the game, but he still would go back to his long roots.  In terms of Provis he may be just fine making the transition, but one I hope they do not do what some teams do and use on team for both TV and radio and just have the radio use the audio of the TV game.  That is the worst, because nothing like listening on radio and hear the announcer say you can see there blah blah blah, no I cannot see because it is on the radio. 

When doing radio you need to tell the listener what is happening and the play by play guy has a huge roll.  On TV the play by play guy has much less roll because we can see what is going on, but giving more context as to what we are seeing is important. 

[saviking]

15 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

Sad news indeed , I always enjoy dick and his partners ...

Won't be the same  , herb carneal  was an all time radio broadcaster , we got used to the next team of radio announcers  , we will get used to dicks replacement  to , but he will be missed in the booth  ...

Success in your new chapter of life Mr Bremer , go-to Florida and visit your friend bert ..., 

Wouldn't it be cool if Bremer's son took over for him although I've never heard him broadcast in the minors ..

[Mike h]

Ah, Mel Jass. HE had a good job!

(Those of you over 70 might remember that one)

[TopGunn#22]

I totally agree with darin617, When the T-Wolves moved in a different direction I was...apprehensive.  Michael Grady is excellent !!  I really like him.  I just wish I didn't have to watch 2nd halves like their latest debacle in Atlanta.  

[DJL44]

Maybe this is how they make up the drop in broadcasting dollars - let the fans do play-by-play and auction it off to the highest bidder!

[Otaknam]

Hopefully Corey Provus stays on the radio broadcast. Provus is the best radio play by play guy the team has ever had, and I’ve been listening since the first game against the Yankees in 1961. He is the best at smoothly describing the action so as a listener I can see the game in my mind’s eye, a unique skill. Moving Provus to TV would create a difficult gap in the radio broadcast that cannot be filled by Gladden, who struggles to describe the action as it occurs, and is frustrating to listen to. 

[arby58]

21 hours ago, RpR said:

AH, you young'ns don't know the glorius years when the Twins had a rotating group on WTCN; I forget if Mel Jass ever popped in to say hello.

I (barely) remember the days with Halsey Hall as the color commentator and Ray Scott doing play-by-play (and, of course, the Hamm's bear) on WTCN television. 

[Twins GFP]

This is a small thing, but Bremer leaving was a story on every sports website except for ESPN.  ESPN didn't touch it.  I know we aren't the Yankees, Red Sox, or Dodgers, but that is just sad...

[FanSince1961]

22 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

His name was Mel Jass, and I do remember his postgame bit.

True, but he did tend to riff.  #JustSayin

[Woof Bronzer]

5 hours ago, SF Twins Fan said:

There is very little chance this was a mutual decision or a decision Dick, which really bums me out and puts a negative light on the Twins management. .

Is this true?  I cannot imagine why the Twins would push him out, he seems like the same ol Dick he's always been so it's not like he's losing a step.  Fans seem to love him too.  

Is there any reporting on this?

[Musk21]

15 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Is this true?  I cannot imagine why the Twins would push him out, he seems like the same ol Dick he's always been so it's not like he's losing a step.  Fans seem to love him too.  

Is there any reporting on this?

https://theathletic.com/5018070/2023/10/31/dick-bremer-twins-play-by-play/

"A high-ranking team official confirmed health isn’t a factor in the decision; the Twins instead want a change in the booth. Other than a statement in the team’s press release, Bremer declined to comment."

[Woof Bronzer]

1 minute ago, Musk21 said:

https://theathletic.com/5018070/2023/10/31/dick-bremer-twins-play-by-play/

"A high-ranking team official confirmed health isn’t a factor in the decision; the Twins instead want a change in the booth. Other than a statement in the team’s press release, Bremer declined to comment."

Thanks.  Shockingly this hasn't been reported by our intrepid local media.  What a baffling, classless decision.  Very surprised the Twins aren't taking more heat for this.  

[rv78]

Will miss Dick in the booth just as I did when Bert left. In my opinion and my ears, they still have not found anyone to replace Bert yet. Now Dick? Unfortunate for Twins fans and even more so for Dick. 

[MMMordabito]

20 hours ago, Western SD Fan said:

Thom Brennaman - probably not because of his baggage, but still a good announcer.

I'm really going to miss Dick Bremer, as there's a drive deep to left by Castellanos that will be a home run making this a 4-0 ballgame.

[darin617]

3 hours ago, Musk21 said:

https://theathletic.com/5018070/2023/10/31/dick-bremer-twins-play-by-play/

"A high-ranking team official confirmed health isn’t a factor in the decision; the Twins instead want a change in the booth. Other than a statement in the team’s press release, Bremer declined to comment."

The twitter video with Justin & Trevor really pissed me off. This decision was made a long time ago during the season. You don't give a guy a cake and a bottle of scotch to commend him on 40 years of service. That was a retirement gift.

Then they tried to play if off like they couldn't have done this at the beginning of the season since he had Covid. And they wait util the final day instead of right when he came back from Covid. If they wanted to acknowledge his 40 years of broadcasting it would have happened right away.

Another low class move by the Twins.

[Fatbat]

Sad day! Two thumbs down. He had a great broadcast career!!

[Mark G]

18 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Hopefully Corey Provus stays on the radio broadcast. Provus is the best radio play by play guy the team has ever had, and I’ve been listening since the first game against the Yankees in 1961. He is the best at smoothly describing the action so as a listener I can see the game in my mind’s eye, a unique skill. Moving Provus to TV would create a difficult gap in the radio broadcast that cannot be filled by Gladden, who struggles to describe the action as it occurs, and is frustrating to listen to. 

To say Corey Provus is a better radio play by play guy than Herb Carneal really puzzles me, but we are all entitled, as they say, to our opinions.  I grew up on Herb, and I have had Corey for a long time as I get older, and they are not even close.  Not that Corey is not good, he is.  But he is not Herb.  Dick, to me, is the Herb Carneal of television, and I, for one, will find it hard to watch a Twins game for a long time.  Why do I have the feeling that Dick is out at the same time Jim P. is stepping down and Joe P. is stepping in?  Any connection?  

[Bright Twins]

Perhaps the Twins can hire Chris and Stefan Caray who are twins and broadcast together. They are Harry Caray’s great grandsons. Their father and grandfather broadcast for the Braves for many years. 
Twins broadcasting the Twins. Can’t get better than that. 😊

[Heiny]

Big Dick Bremer fan.  If this was a force out by the Twins, I have lost a ton of respect for the Twins management.  Dick was and probably still is and always will be the most "loyal twins fan" in history.  He needs to go directly in the HOF with his bust right next to his best and most entertaining broadcast partner, Bert Blyleven, whom I believe was also pushed out.  40 years of dedication and loyalty deserves better.  Shame on you Minnesota Twins.

[darin617]

16 hours ago, Heiny said:

Big Dick Bremer fan.  If this was a force out by the Twins, I have lost a ton of respect for the Twins management.  Dick was and probably still is and always will be the most "loyal twins fan" in history.  He needs to go directly in the HOF with his bust right next to his best and most entertaining broadcast partner, Bert Blyleven, whom I believe was also pushed out.  40 years of dedication and loyalty deserves better.  Shame on you Minnesota Twins.

It was a force out. Like I said earlier that Twitter video of Justin and Trevor giving him a cake and a bottle of scotch to "celebrate" Dick's 40 years of broadcasting. And of course they waited until the final game to recognize his 40 years of service because he had Covid to start the season and they just "decided" to wait for the final game.

No way around that the Twins did Dick dirty on this. And the worst part is Dick continuing to work for them. They know how loved he is in Twins territory and will bring him out to make them look good. Dick should have just thanked them for the offer and told them to go "fly a kite" and walk away from the Twins.