Dick Bremer, speaking from his home in St. Michael on Tuesday, commented on what is on everyone’s mind here with two days to go until the Twins home opener.
“I’m just sitting here, watching the snow come down.” Bremer said.
It’s hard to believe baseball season is here with the white stuff coming down. But it’s also hard to believe that baseball season is here without Bremer in front of a camera, holding a microphone.
Bremer has watched more snow fall here in recent weeks than he’s used to, yet it’s part of his transitioning into his next role. After 40 years as the Twins television play-by-play announcer, the club decided to go in another direction following the end of last season and did not renew his contract.
Officially, Bremer has retired and will become a special assistant and ambassador for the club. This has hit home for him in recent months after not being part of the Twins caravan in January. Then when it was time for baseball’s annual pilgrimage to spring training, he was back in the Twin Cities. Except for the pandemic year, it was the first time he had not been to a Twins spring training in his broadcasting career.
Then came last month’s snowstorm, as he had to get more familiar with his plow.
“I thought about that a lot when I went up and down the driveway on March 25th and March 27th,” he said. “Every time I went down the driveway, I thought I should be in Fort Myers.”
Bremer then let out a hearty laugh. He’s not bitter, or he wouldn’t have accepted the special assistant’s role. He worked 4,972 games. While it’s unfortunate that he didn’t get a chance to work his 5,000th game, he has too many fond memories. For 40 seasons, his office was a broadcast booth. Announcing Twins games allowed him to tour the country. He witnessed two World Series titles. Work didn’t seem like work to him.