Title/Author:
“Game Used: My Life in
Stitches with the Minnesota Twins” by Dick Bremer
Tags:
Baseball, professional,
memoir, broadcasting, Twins
Publish date:
March 17, 2020
Length:
304 pages
Rating: to
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
Dick Bremer has been
the primary voice of Minnesota Twins telecasts since 1983. In those 37 seasons,
he has been able to collect a lot of memorable stories about the team,
broadcast partners, adventures on the road and even some about his personal
life. He shares 108 of them in this memoir
– 108 to match the number of stitches on a baseball.
The book is a walk
through Bremer's life, from his childhood when he was raised in rural western
Minnesota by adoptive parents, to their move to Missouri and back to the
Midwest. The reader will also learn
about Bremer's early adventures into broadcasting when he was getting his early
experience in college and smaller games.
Through them all, he shares his stories with equal parts of humor and
fondness at the memories.
Anybody who is a fan
of not only the Twins, but of Minnesota sports will recognize Bremer's deep
baritone voice as he has done not only the Twins games, but has also broadcast
games for the Minnesota North Stars (hockey) and University of Minnesota
(football and basketball) as well as provide coverage for many other sports as
well. But it is clear to the reader that
Bremer's first love is baseball, especially with his stories about watching
Twins games before he became their broadcaster.
The humor Bremer is noted
for in the broadcast booth is clearly evident in his broadcasting and baseball
stories as well. One of the funniest
stories in the book is when he feared that when trying to pull a prank on his
long-time booth partner Bert Blyleven, he lost Blyleven's wedding ring. Another great story involves Blyleven as
Bremer tried to explain that the cheeks of a walleye are the best tasting part
of the fish. He invited former Twins
player Kent Hrbek, who had retired for several years when this took place, to
join them. When Bremer had the food that
he had earlier prepared brought to the booth, Hrbek thought they were all for
him and he gobbled them up leaving none for Bremer to share with Blyleven. While this may not sound so funny, to read it
in the book (especially to imagine Bremer's voice while reading) is hilarious.
The baseball memories
Bremer shares are excellent as well.
Twins fans will love to read about the championship seasons of 1987 and
1991 with a special fondness for the unexpected rally for the 1987 team when
they returned to Minnesota after winning the American League pennant in
Detroit. The struggles of the team in
the early '80s and mid '90s are also shared, in sharp contrast to the good memories
of the teams in the 2000's that won several divisions but just couldn't go
farther in the postseason. Issues
affecting the team off the field, such as two different threats to move the
team, contraction talk in 2001 by the Commissioner and finally the opening of
Target Field and some of the better memories of games there complete Bremer's
thoughts on the team and his career.
If the reader is a
Twins fan, as this reviewer has been his entire life, then this book is one
that must be added to the bookshelves It
is an excellent reflection of not only Twins baseball, but the man who has been
the voice of the team for almost four decades.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
Nothing about Mauer?
ReplyDeleteOh, he's mentioned a few times. His 2009 season and one of the 108 chapters is on his last game. Had to be careful on writing about too many of them - I could have just rewritten the whole book!
ReplyDeleteCan you explain the title, Game Used.
ReplyDelete