Gladden Named 2026 Inductee into the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame

[Seth Stohs]

Dan Gladden has been a fixture on Twins radio broadcasts since 2000. Recently, he was named a 2026 inductee into the Minnesota Broadcasters Hall of Fame. 

Gladden came to the Twins organization just before the 1987 season began. He is often referred to as the sparkplug that helped the Twins to World Series championships in 1987 and 1991. His final play with the Twins came in the bottom of the 10th inning of Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. He hit a hustle double, advanced to third on a bunt, and scored on Gene Larkin's "single" to give the Twins the 1-0 win. 

He continued to play for a few more years, including time in Japan. In 2000, he began his time in the Twins radio broadcast booth. He became the full-time analyst in 203. He has worked in the booth with Herb Carneal, John Gordon, Cory Provus and now Kris Atteberry. 

In fact, it was Provus who was able to tell Gladden about his latest career honor. 

The honor clearly means a lot to Gladden who got emotional responding to Provus. He thanked Dave St. Peter for giving him an opportunity. 

He said, "I didn't even cry when Rod Carew called me (to tell him he'd made the Twins Hall of Fame)." Gladden joined the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2022. 

Join us in congratulating Dan Gladden on this terrific honor. 

View full rumor

[Whitey333]

Congrats to Dan Gladden.  A well deserved honor!!

[Senior Softball Guy]

Amazing honor for someone who has never mastered  play by play. A quick hint; You are on the radio, please paint a picture for us.

[Cris E]

Wow does this make me feel old.  Not because I watched him play, but because I recall his first games in the booth so clearly. His first spring they had him down behind the plate at the Dome for a game because the booth was too full of guests. They cut to him abruptly for insight on a pitch and all he could come up with was "Well it was a breaking ball I guess." Not entirely fair, but not all that useful either. He's much better now, but it took years to rise from Terrible to Not Distracting. 

Congrats Dan, you've come a long, long way. 

[DocBauer]

I know Gladden isn't everyone's cup of tea...or choice of adult beverage may be more accurate, lol...but I've always enjoyed him despite his rough edges.

He doesn't do a great job of "painting a picture". And while much improved over the years, he's not great doing the play by play. But I've always enjoyed those rough edges, the dry sense of humor, the occasional biting comment, and a perspective of the game that comes from a former player, but almost sounds like a guy in the LF bleachers working on his 3rd beer, lol. He brings a very different "voice" that is different. 

He's the guy I have fun listening to because he's different, and who I'd love to have a beer...or two...after the game to talk about what we just watched.

Congratulations Mr. Gladden for this honor!

[DJL44]

Seriously? I guess with robots taking over the job there aren’t many actual humans left to induct.

[DJL44]

After the Twins Hall of Fame ceremonies, it would be prudent to ask him NOT to give a speech at this award ceremony.

[FlyingFinn]

What is the one basic thing I want from my car? To get me where I'm going. 

What is the one basic thing I want from my Twins radio announcer? To know what is happening in the game. The 4th-6th innings are problematic.

[big dog]

Danny's a good color guy, and brings a very good player's perspective to the broadcast. Congrats to him!

[USAFChief]

My personal favorite thing about Danny is his ability to ignore a question and provide an answer complete unrelated.

In fairness, I've come to associate Dan with Twins baseball on the radio and just accept that I need to keep track of the little things like the score myself.

Congrats, Mr Gladden.

[lecroy24fan]

I don't think he deserves the award. He's getting it for longevity. Since Provus moved to TV, Dan has become the worst of the worst, not that we was ever better than mediocre. I listen at work because I don't have another option to listen to games. But he'll go 10 minutes without saying anything about the game. On radio you have to paint a picture of the game and he does not do that.

[big dog]

I’m happy for him, as my note above shows. The Twins have no business letting him do play by play, though. I wonder if any of the Pohlads have ever listened to a broadcast? 

[Vanimal46]

7 hours ago, USAFChief said:

My personal favorite thing about Danny is his ability to ignore a question and provide an answer complete unrelated.

In fairness, I've come to associate Dan with Twins baseball on the radio and just accept that I need to keep track of the little things like the score myself.

Congrats, Mr Gladden.

In fairness, I would also ignore 75% of things Kris Attebury says during the game. It's a shame that we have a bottom feeding radio team. More times than I can count I'm just tuning in to the game on a drive, or out on a walk with my dog. And I have to end up googling the box score to find out what's actually happening. 

[big dog]

Atteberry thinks the highlight of his broadcasts is how he can refer to the name of a players high school team. 
Here comes Bradford to the plate, the former Tiger from East Central High School. Idiotic.