National Baseball Hall of Fame – 2011
Bert was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the third round of the 1969 Major League Baseball Draft. He reported to his first spring training in 1970 and was called up to the big leagues later that summer. His body of work that includes 685 starts, 3,701 strikeouts, a lifetime ERA of 3.31, 60 shutouts, 242 complete games and 4,970 innings pitched rank him among the greatest to ever play the position. Bert owns two World Series rings. The first came with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, and perhaps his most coveted, his 1987 ring with the Twins. That season he won 15 games and was a key component of the Twins first ever World Series Championship. In 2009 and again in 2013, he served as the pitching coach for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic. Bert was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July of 2011. Earlier that month he joined former teammates, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Kent Hrbek, and Kirby Puckett in having his number “28” permanently retired by the Twins. He was named to the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2006; in 2009 was selected to the club’s “All Metrodome Team” and in 2010 was named as one of the 50 Greatest Twins in commemoration of the Twins’ 50th anniversary in Minnesota. Bert now works as the game analyst for FSN North for the Minnesota Twins television broadcasts.
Throws: Right
Bats: Right
Born: April 6, 1951 – Zeist, Holland
Major League Teams:
Minnesota Twins (1970-1979—1985-1988)
Texas Rangers (1976-1977)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1978-1980)
Cleveland Indians (1981-1985)
California Angles (1989-1992)