November 26, 2023

Dick Bremer is leaving. Does Cory Provus want the job?

Dick Bremer is leaving the Twins’ broadcast booth after 40 seasons, the longtime TV voice agreeing to be a special assistant and ambassador for the team.

There’s some question about whether the Twins will have a TV contract for 2024 in light of the Diamond Sports Group bankruptcy, but assuming that they will, who should replace Bremer in the booth?

Why not Cory Provus?

Provus, the lead radio voice for the Twins, shares broadcasting duties with ex-Twin Dan Gladden and Stanford grad Kris Atteberry. All have their strengths, but it’s Provus who stands out as the best of the three. He has a good home run call, perhaps an even better strikeout call (Heeeeee struck him out!) and the big moment call, such as when the Twins get a dramatic walk-off win. It goes something like this: Twins win! Twins win! The Minnesota Twins… win it!

But the best part of Cory’s broadcast game is that he has found the correct balance between too much information and the right amount of information to share during the game.

Gladden and Atteberry make for interesting examples. Gladden probably doesn’t talk enough, so I’m not always clear on what’s happening in the game, and Atteberry talks way too much, so as much as I want to listen to the game, I know Atteberry is going to be riffing on some baseball-related topic, whether it’s the Twins or some other team.

And then there’s Cory who falls right in between, giving me everything I need to be apprised of the game, but never overdoing it to the point that I want him to shut up.

Extra innings …

-Awards season is here and some Twins have managed to attract a few votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

No one did better than starter Sonny Gray, who earned enough votes to finish second to AL Cy Young award winner Gerrit Cole. He pitched to a 2.79 ERA over 184 innings, the most innings he has pitched in almost 10 seasons, with 183 strikeouts. He also allowed only eight home runs in 32 starts. The bad news is that Gray rejected the Twins’ qualifying offer and is likely going to sign with another team.

-Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde won the AL Manager of the Year award, while Twins manager Rocco Baldelli picked up a few votes to finish fourth.

-And Twins rookie infielder Edouard Julien, who slashed .263/.381/.459 over 109 games with 16 home runs and 64 walks, received two votes to finish in seventh place for the Rookie of the Year award. Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson was the winner.

 

November 12, 2023

Sticking with a theme: The Twins faced the ‘Spaceman’ on 10-cent beer night

Disco Demolition Night isn’t the only baseball promotion to go off the rails. Promoters have also given us Ten Cent Beer Night, a gimmick to increase attendance that had been pulled off before without incident, but that failed badly on June 4, 1974, in a game that was played in Cleveland between the Indians and... Continue Reading »

November 5, 2023

The day before Disco Demolition Night? The Twins played the Tigers

Disco Demolition Night is back in the news because of a new PBS documentary about disco music and the backlash to it in the form of the disco sucks movement, which finally culminated in a baseball promotion that went completely haywire. On July 12, 1979, the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox met for a... Continue Reading »

October 30, 2023

Would the Twins have been better off with Torey Lovullo as manager?

From 2011 through 2014, the Twins never won more than 70 games, a streak that finally had dire consequences for longtime manager Ron Gardenhire and longtime general manager Terry Ryan, both of whom were let go. The Twins replaced Ryan with the tandem of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine and then the organization had to... Continue Reading »

October 23, 2023

The not-so-secret stylings of ex-Twin Robbie Grossman

How many major league players have parlayed a .244 batting average with limited power into a career that stands at 11 seasons and counting? Not many, I suspect, but that is precisely what Texas Rangers outfielder Robbie Grossman has accomplished, perhaps prompting many to lift their caps, scratch their heads and ask: What’s so special... Continue Reading »

October 17, 2023

We hardly knew ye, Trevor May

Relief pitcher and Northwest native Trevor May, 34, who spent six of his nine seasons in major league baseball with the Twins, announced his retirement on Monday. The announcement was apparently made using a social media platform called Twitch, according to MLB Trade Rumors. “I love talking pitching, I love talking about the game, I... Continue Reading »

October 15, 2023

‘You’re playing like the Chicago White Sox,’ said relative to Dan Gladden

Before the Twins’ Game 4 loss to the Houston Astros, there was a moment of fun between two ex-Twins and some good humor in the radio booth. Former Twins third baseman Gary Gaetti threw out the first pitch to former left fielder and recent Twins Hall of Fame inductee Dan Gladden, who also does Twins... Continue Reading »

October 12, 2023

It’s over: 2023 season ends as Twins lose game, series to Houston

The offense disappeared for the second straight night and Houston did just enough to edge the Twins 3-2 on Wednesday to advance to the American League Championship Series and make it an all-Texas affair, Astros versus Rangers. What happened to these Twins the past two games? They reverted to their regular season form by striking... Continue Reading »

October 11, 2023

Seriously, Rocco, there’s no need to pitch to Yordan Alvarez. Walk the guy

It was over before it ever really began. The Houston Astros scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back, scoring again in the fifth, sixth and ninth innings to blow out the Twins 9-1 in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday. It’s a huge disappointment... Continue Reading »

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Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.