Bert Blyleven: Wednesday will be my last Twins broadcast

Bert Blyleven has announced that Wednesday night’s Twins game will be his last in the broadcast booth. 

“For 25 years I have had the privilege to be part of the Twins broadcast team,” Blyleven began in a tweet. “Tonight sad to say will be my last Twins broadcast. But I will continue to serve my role as a Special Assistant for future years.”

Part 2 – I want to thank the Twins organization, Dave St.Peter and ESPECIALLY THE FANS for your support over the years. You are ALL “Hereby Circled”. ⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️ God Bless and be safe 👍⚾️

— Bert Blyleven (@BertBlyleven28) September 2, 2020

“It is not often you can bring a Hall of Famer and a World Series champion into your broadcast booth, much less one who possesses that enviable combination of knowledge and charisma to keep fans hooked for more than two decades; the Twins did just that with Bert Blyleven,” said Twins President & CEO Dave St. Peter. 

“While his on-field contributions for the club are well-documented, we are truly grateful for Bert’s 25 years of introducing new Twins fans to the game through his stories, insight and analysis on our television broadcasts. He is a great ambassador for baseball, and we look forward to his continued role with the Minnesota Twins. Bert, you are hereby circled!”

Blyleven will transition to a special assistant role with the Twins, serving as a public personality for the franchise and working as an on-field instructor during spring training. 

The shortened MLB season due to the pandemic ultimately trimmed the number of games the Hall of Fame pitcher was scheduled to work alongside play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer. 

Originally, before the season was shortened, FSN was going to have Justin Morneau do 57 games of color commentary, followed by Bert Blyleven doing 30 games, Roy Smalley 26, Jack Morris 23, LaTroy Hawkins 17 and Jim Kaat 10.

Once the season was cut to 60 games, FSN decided to give Morneau 40% of the games and 25% to Blyleven, with the remaining games going to Smalley and Morris. 

Those percentages equated to about 24 games for Morneau, 15 for Blyleven and 21 for Smalley and Morris, though exact numbers and assignments weren’t announced.