Former Twins manager Tom Kelly, who led Minnesota to its two World Series titles in 1987 and 1991, is joining the Twins broadcast booth on Fox Sports North for four games this week. Kelly’s stint begins this afternoon when the team hosts the Rays and continues Thursday, Friday and Sunday when the team faces the White Sox in Chicago. Kelly is filling in for Bert Blyleven, who is taking time off in preparation for his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame later this month.
In the past Kelly has briefly joined Blyleven and play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer in the booth, but this will be the first time he’s serving as a full-game analyst. Bremer, for one, thinks he’s game for the role.
“There’s no question he’s got a wealth of knowledge about the game and the players,” Bremer said. “I’ll be very interested how much he enjoys it. Most people who cross over to the dark side, as we call it, really enjoy it once they get used to it.”
Kelly, for his part, said, “We’ll see how comfortable I can get. I might be like a fish out of water there, I’m not sure. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Let’s hope it’s a good game and I can contribute something to the festivities and maybe make somebody think about something a little bit.”