{"id":141619,"date":"2018-03-28T16:45:06","date_gmt":"2018-03-28T21:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=141619"},"modified":"2018-04-03T09:17:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-03T14:17:00","slug":"circle-me-bert-tradition-may-be-gone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=141619","title":{"rendered":"Update: Circle Me Bert tradition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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(St. Paul Pioneer Press)\u00a0 Many Twins fans were upset with Tuesday\u2019s news that \u201cCircle Me Bert,\u201d the popular in-game tradition in which Hall of Fame pitcher and lead Fox Sports North TV analyst Bert Blyleven uses the telestrator to highlight sign-holding fans, was seemingly being phased out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Not so,the Fox Sports North Network (FSN)\u00a0 clarified on Wednesday via its Twitter account:<\/p>\n

” \u2018Circle Me Bert\u2019 started as an organic on-air element and is not going away. It will continue in its original form.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSigns are still encouraged,\u201d Fox Sports North added.<\/p>\n

While Blyleven will continue to circle fans on TV, a\u00a0new \u201cWinners Circle\u201d concept will be used in which fans at the ballpark and watching at home can get involved. Still sponsored by the Minnesota Lottery, the contest allows select fans and those nominated by friends and family to be recognized during Twins telecasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirthday? Anniversary? Other big occasion? Submit your photo and message for consideration to be acknowledged by the broadcast team during a Twins telecast this season and receive $100 in Minnesota Lottery scratch tickets,\u201d the Fox Sports North press release read via Twitter.<\/p>\n

Blyleven, who turns 67 on April 6 and is entering his 23rd season in the Twins\u2019 broadcast booth, broke the news via his Twitter account on Tuesday:<\/p>\n

\u201cJust informed by FSN that there will be no more \u2018Circle Me Bert\u2019 and Minnesota Lottery winners for this coming season. I want to thank all the fans that made signs over the past 15+ seasons. Doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t still bring signs! Go Twins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early Wednesday afternoon, Blyleven took to Twitter with an update.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Previously…<\/p>\n

(Minneapolis) \u00a0 Baseball Hall of Famer and Twins T.V. analyst Bert Blyleven announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he’s been informed by FSN (Fox Sports North) that there will be no more “Circle Me Bert” and Minnesota lottery winners this upcoming MLB season.<\/p>\n

Bert said, “I want to thank all the fans that made signs over the past 15+ seasons,” he wrote. “Doesn’t mean you can’t still bring signs! Go Twins”<\/p>\n

Reaction on Twitter was swift and disappointed.<\/p>\n

Fox Sports North has not commented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(St. Paul Pioneer Press)\u00a0 Many Twins fans were upset with Tuesday\u2019s news that \u201cCircle Me Bert,\u201d the popular in-game tradition in which Hall of Fame pitcher and lead Fox Sports North TV analyst Bert Blyleven uses the telestrator to highlight sign-holding fans, was seemingly being phased out. Not so,the Fox […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":142029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=141619"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141690,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141619\/revisions\/141690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/142029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=141619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=141619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=141619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}