For four decades, Dick Bremer’s distinctive voice has been the soundtrack of Twins games, bringing generations of baseball fans in Minnesota closer to their favorite team. It was a dream job for Bremer, a lifelong baseball fan born in St. Paul and raised in small-town Minnesota.

Bremer’s illustrious run as the Twins’ television play-by-play announcer has come to an end after 40 seasons, the team announced Tuesday, with the 67-year-old shifting to a special assistant role within the front office that will have him representing the team at community and fan events.

“A final left-hand toast to Twins fans everywhere,” Bremer wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account, accompanied by a picture of him holding out a beer while in a fishing boat on the water. “Thanks for an incredible 40-year run! It was MY pleasure.”

Bremer, who was raised in Dumont, Minn., began calling Twins games in 1983, holding that job for three seasons. After one year away, he returned as the Twins’ play-by-play announcer and has held that job since 1987.

The Emmy-winning broadcaster, who was inducted into the Minnesota Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame and is expected to be inducted into the Twins’ Hall of Fame in the future, retires as the longest-tenured television broadcaster for one team in Major League Baseball.

In total, across his 40 seasons, he broadcast 4,972 Twins games, chronicling the stories of both World Series-winning teams, the careers of stars like Kirby Puckett, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, and the milestones and achievements of hundreds of Twins players.

“Over the last year or so, I thought it would be really cool to make it to 5,000,” he said in a release. “Then, I thought to myself, how selfish would that be? A broadcast should never be about the announcer. It should always be about the game and those who play it. I hope in my final season, I proved that I’ve still got my fastball, a goal I set when I started with the Twins in 1983.”

The Twins have not named a replacement for Bremer yet and said in a release that they are “currently assessing potential broadcast options” as well as their talent lineup for 2024. In 2023, Bremer called games alongside a number of former Twins players, including Morneau, LaTroy Hawkins, Roy Smalley, Glen Perkins and Trevor Plouffe. An announcement on Bremer’s replacement, as well as color analysts, will come later in the offseason.

Even before Bremer’s retirement from the booth, this offseason was expected to be a time of transition for Twins telecasts. The Twins have called Bally Sports North (formerly Fox Sports North) their television home for the past 12 years but with the contract between the two sides expiring, it is uncertain where games will be broadcast next year. And now, after so many years with the same voice, it’s not yet known who will be calling those games, either.

“Today is a day to recognize, celebrate and applaud Dick Bremer for an illustrious 40-season career as the treasured television voice of Minnesota Twins baseball,” Twins president and CEO Dave St. Peter said in a release. “…  With a deep love for his childhood team and his home state, a reverence for the game, and a pure joy for his craft, Dick connected with and cultivated generations of fans across Twins Territory — a feat for which our organization is forever grateful.”

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