Bert and Dick, not Bert and Ernie--although I miss them

I waited with bated breath throughout the week of March 27, not because my 58th birthday was four days away, no, it was because on April 1st, Bert and Dick were going to be nightly guests in my family room. Bert Blyleven, the newly minted Hall of Fame pitcher and Dick Bremer, a career calling the plays guy are the announcers for the Minnesota Twins.

While I have always enjoyed watching baseball, having spent many of my days watching Yankee baseball and listening to Phil Rizzuto exclaim "holy cow" for every great play made by the Bronx Bombers, Bert and Dick make the world seem right. While Phil always praised the Yankees and jeered the competitor, Bert and Dick call a game purely on the merits.

Twins catcher, Joe Mauer hits a home run, Bert and Dick sing his praise, Jose Posada of the Yankees hits a home run, they cheer for him as well. ( I use the Yankees not only because I was weaned on them, but as I write this, our Twins are sinking in Yankee stadium.) In other words, they call what they see in good baseball, no matter what uniform the player wears. They love the game and the skills and talents needed to play the game...they are silent though on the big bucks involved.

And they are characters. At the beginning of the season, Bert will let us know how many days there are until his birthday on April 23, and for the rest of the season he will continue the countdown until the next April. He uses the teleprompter to "circle me Bert"where people bring signs to Target Field and when they prop them up, Bert will put a big old circle around them. It's pure joy to hear Bert say, "You are hereby circled!" They always get the trivia questions right, somehow. They use their California math to figure out how many hits a player may have during the game. They give each other a hard time...all in good fun. They are just fun to listen to. They have an honesty and simplicity of friendship that comes across during the telecast...just like Bert and Ernie. You know Bert and Ernie, a friendship ended tragically through the efforts of the uber-right.

It's spring, sort of in Minnesota, it's Twins Baseball, and it's a full spring, summer and fall filled with Bert and Dick...the sun and moon are aliened and the stars are shining bright. Thanks Bert, thanks, Dick, you are always welcome in our family room.