The awestruck kid had a literal window into his future.
Erik Bremer enjoyed the ultimate take-your-son-to-work experience, as often as possible. His father, Dick Bremer, was already established as the Minnesota Twins' beloved television play-by-play broadcaster. His partner, Bert Blyleven, was adeptly transitioning from an acclaimed Major League Baseball pitcher for 22 seasons into a respected broadcast analyst.
Just a couple of legends-in-waiting, eventual Hall of Fame members as it turned out, situated on either side of wishful-dreaming Erik.
“I was pretty immersed in it from a very young age,” said Erik Bremer, now in his fifth season as the voice of the Blue Wahoos. “I would sit between my dad and Bert (inducted in 2011 into the National Baseball Hall of Fame) in the broadcast booth at the old Metrodome during afternoon Twins games.”
And how old was he?
“Pretty much as soon as I was trusted to keep quiet,” Bremer said, laughing. “Probably 4 or 5 (years old). They would feed me ice cream bars in the press box.”
That childhood joy was remembered on July 11 as Bremer stood proudly with his mother Heidi and his sister Hannah, the Twins' manager of community impact, as they gathered at Target Field in Minneapolis as Dick Bremer was officially inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame.
It was the mountaintop moment for Dick Bremer, 70, who spent 40 years as a fixture in so many homes of Twins fans across the Upper Midwest as the team’s broadcasting voice.
Part of Dick Bremer’s legacy is that he’s the longest tenured television broadcaster for a single MLB team in league history. He also broadcast for both of the Twins’ World Series seasons in 1987 and 1991.
“I think for any child, when you see your parent enjoy going to work every day, you understand the very special connection they have with their job,” Erik Bremer said. “And especially for my dad, who grew up a Twins fan, just as I did, to end up broadcasting for your hometown team in your home community.
“That is something that is a dream for a lot of people and it’s just incredible he got to live out that dream for 40 years.”
Erik traveled from Pensacola to Minneapolis, missing the final three games of the Blue Wahoos' past homestand July 10-13 against the Montgomery Biscuits, to share a lifetime moment with his father and family.
In a poignant scene, Erik was attired in a blue sport coat, catching his father’s ceremonial first pitch July 11 following the on-field recognition before the Twins’ victory that day against the Los Angeles Angels.
Erik’s special trip enabled Charlie Hobert, a Blue Wahoos trainee, to fly solo in the broadcast booth during the Blue Wahoos weekend finale against Montgomery. Bremer and Hobert have become a well-meshing tandem on Blue Wahoos broadcasts this season.
As Major League Baseball celebrated the 96th MLB All-Star Game on July 14, Erik and his father watched on TV while together in Minnesota during the extended celebration of his father’s honor.
The Blue Wahoos will resume their season, along with all levels of affiliated baseball, on Friday, July 17 in a road series against the Biloxi Shuckers with Erik back behind the mic.
“It's a homecoming for me, but really it’s all about my dad,” said Erik Bremer, who was born in Minneapolis. “I was there for the first game at Target Field (in 2010). I remember the fight to get that ballpark built, and I understand in the grand scheme of things what the creation of that ballpark meant for the long-term viability of baseball in the Upper Midwest.
“I was six years old when there was a threat to contract the team (before Target Field funding was approved). My dad was exploring other career paths. So every time I walk into Target Field, there is just an overwhelming sense of gratitude that baseball in the Upper Midwest is thriving and my dad had a role in that happening.”
His father had Twins fans extending a left-handed toast, just as he famously established the tradition after Twins wins, following the induction festivities. The ceremony included 20 fellow Twins Hall of Fame members, as well as several other former players and broadcast partners, joining Dick Bremer on the field.
Making the moment even more special were two busloads of supporters and long-time fans from Dumont, Minnesota, a tiny town located 187 miles west of Minneapolis, where Dick Bremer grew up.
“That you and I are here today proves that sometimes, dreams do come true,” Dick Bremer said to the crowd at Target Field.
“How unrealistic would it have been to think, ‘Oh, I want to be a play-by-play guy for a team,” said Bremer, who wrote a book, Game Used: My Life In Stitches with the Minnesota Twins. “And by the way, I want it to be the Twins, the team I grew up following as a little kid. I’ve been so blessed.”
The blessing now extends to an ultimate, special irony. While enjoying retirement, Dick Bremer told media members in Minneapolis about the joy he now experiences listening to Erik on the broadcast of Blue Wahoos games. The elder Bremer and wife Heidi traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to share in Erik’s special moment on May 27 broadcasting the Blue Wahoos' win against the Birmingham Barons in “The Rickwood Game” at historic Rickwood Field.
The two have a special father-son bond, both growing up baseball fans and having the special passion and talented knack for being baseball broadcasters.
“My dad always put the viewer and listener first. It was never about himself,” Erik Bremer said. “It was serving the audience and giving them what they wanted, and that is something I have tried to carry on myself.
“He was a very talented play by play broadcaster, and could have succeeded in any market. But the sense that I got is what made his connection special to Twins fans was his authenticity. He was the same person on the air as he was if you met him in the grocery store or bait shop.”
“When he said something – expressed surprise or elation or disappointment – people believed it, because he was himself on the air. It is something that isn’t necessarily all that common in the world of broadcasting. We have slightly different styles on the air, but hopefully that sincerity comes through in what I do as well.”