Born Rik Aalbert Blijleven
                      April 6, 1951, in Zeist,
                      Netherlands, Bert pitched
                      in the Majors from 1970 to 1992,
                      notorious  for his curveball
                      which, according to Brooks
                      Robinson,  "was nasty, I'll tell you
                      that. Enough to make your knees  
                      buckle. Bert was a terrific pitcher –
                      a dominant pitcher." He was
                      raised in Garden Grove, California
                      and drafted by the Minnesota Twins
                      right after high school in 1969,
                      graduating to the Majors the
                      following year, at 19, and  
                      named American League Rookie
                      of the Year by The Sporting News.

                      Bert went on to play for
                      the Texas Rangers, the California
                       Angels, the Pittsburgh Pirates
                      (winning the 1979 World Series)
                      the Cleveland Indians  (leading the
                       American League in shutouts
                       in 1985,  and pitching 293 2/3
                       innings & completing 24 games -  
                       which no pitcher has done since),
                       returned to the Minnesota Twins
                       (exceeding 3,000 strikeouts and
                       winning  the 1987 World Series),
                       and the  California  Angels (again
                       leading  the league in  shutouts).

                      Since 1996, Bert has been doing
                      color commentary for the
                      Minnesoata Twins, leading to his
                      mastery of the "Circle Machine"
                      (the telestrator, which permits
                      on-screen highlighting by the
                      commentator), which in turn gave
                      rise to the  Circle Me Bert
                      phenomenon. Bert and his wife
                      Gayle have leveraged the
                       Circle Me Bert craziness into an
                      opportunity to raise  money
                       for a cause  close to their hearts,
                      the fight to end
                      Parkinson's Disease.
                       

                                                             

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