Twins' new play-by-play announcers are familiar voices

MINNEAPOLIS -- After Cory Provus finalized his agreement to become the new television play-by-play voice of the Twins, he first called his wife -- then, he called the man he refers to as his “work wife,” longtime radio analyst and broadcast partner Dan Gladden.

“Listen, we’re not getting a divorce!” Gladden told Provus on the phone.

But things will, indeed, be a bit different in 2024 and beyond -- while still revolving around the familiar. The Twins are keeping things in-house for their play-by-play future, calling upon two longtime fixtures of the organization to serve as the voices of the team from their television and radio booths.

The club announced Friday that Provus will transition to lead television play-by-play duties after 12 years as the radio voice of the Twins, and longtime radio studio host Kris Atteberry will take over the lead radio play-by-play job on the Treasure Island Baseball Network as he begins his 18th season with the organization.

“This is something I just really want to do,” Provus said. “I’ve always thought of myself as being ambitious and challenging myself, and this, to me, is the ultimate challenge, by far. And the idea of joining this group in this way, now, I think I would regret not at least trying.”

“I'm just ecstatic,” Atteberry said. “I'm ecstatic. A lot of people, obviously, that I owe a great depth of gratitude to. First of all, I'm really privileged and honored to work for an organization that cares about radio and cares deeply about radio from our owners to our team president and all the way through.”

The Twins have not yet announced their television broadcast home for the 2024 season and beyond following the expiration of their deal with Diamond Sports Group -- the parent company of Bally Sports North -- at the end of the ‘23 campaign.

But this has already been an offseason of transition, with these personnel moves coming as a result of longtime television play-by-play man Dick Bremer transitioning to a front office ambassador role following 40 years as the television voice of the Twins.

“Cory and Kris have been integral parts of the soundtrack of spring, summer and fall across Twins Territory for many years and we are thrilled to continue these relationships as they step into their new roles,” said Twins president Dave St. Peter in a statement. “The bonds they forge across our organization translate into a storytelling ability that is uniquely theirs; I am supremely confident that both will continue the Twins’ legacy of broadcast excellence.”

Provus said it wasn’t an easy decision to move off radio, which has been his primary medium throughout his decorated broadcasting career, spanning MLB tenures with the Cubs, Brewers and the Twins. He has also done television play-by-play for football and basketball on Big Ten Network, and he’ll continue doing so for basketball alongside his new role with the Twins.

He joined the Minnesota booth in 2012, and he said a significant part of his motivation in moving to television was in helping bring the broadcast to a wider swath of Twins Territory and making it more accessible, including an anticipated lifting of blackout restrictions in 2024.

“That, to me, was a huge driving point,” Provus said. “‘All right, if I do this, blackouts are going away. Twins baseball is going to be more accessible.’ That, to me, was very, very exciting and helped kind of drive me in this direction, that this would be the opportune time to go down this path and give it a go. So that was a big part of it.”

Atteberry has put in his time, having served 17 seasons as the host of the Pregame and Postgame Lineup Card show on the Treasure Island Baseball Network while filling in on play-by-play or color for Atteberry and Gladden when needed. He noted that he thought about giving up his hope “a million times” over the years, but finally saw through the dream he’d held since he was a 6-year-old growing up in Montana.

Since starting his career as a student broadcaster at Stanford University, Atteberry worked his way up the ladder with stops in South Dakota, Wyoming and with the St. Paul Saints -- long before they became the organization’s Triple-A affiliate -- before landing with the Twins in 2007.

“I had been close but not the guy too many times,” Atteberry said. “Working for people you like and with people you like, you can’t find that everywhere. I’ve got too many friends in the industry who haven’t been able to find it still. I’m not going to give that up.”

The Twins expect to announce their full television and radio broadcast lineups -- along with their television broadcast partnership information -- later this offseason, but the core of their broadcast work will lie with two familiar faces, and that’s something the whole group remains thrilled about as they forge their new future together.

“I'm really excited about the idea that, in essence, the band's still together,” Atteberry said. “Cory's a room over standing on his little box doing his shots with Justin [Morneau], but we're all still together. We're traveling together. We have a really good relationship and rhythm and energy between all of us.”