Shaler graduate Tim Grubbs makes debut as Minnesota Twins play-by-play announcer

The dream of being a play-by-play baseball announcer is a passion many young broadcasters have.

With only 30 jobs available, becoming part of that field is truly rarefied air.

Shaler native and 1991 graduate Tim Grubbs was among those with that goal. And his path to getting a shot at his dream got very real this past weekend. After spending 30 years toiling around minor-league baseball and calling more than 4,000 games, Grubbs has finally gotten his call-up to the majors with the Minnesota Twins.

Over the past five seasons, Grubbs has been the voice of the Wichita Wind Surge, a Double-A affiliate of the Twins. In the spring, full-time Minnesota play-by-play man Kris Atteberry opted to take some time off for his annual vacation starting this past Friday. The Twins decided to give Grubbs a chance to call six games, starting with a weekend series in Cleveland.

The long and winding road to calling major-league baseball found its exit ramp for Grubbs, a road he started to travel in his hometown.

“I started my career in baseball in 1991 working in the ticket office for the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium,” Grubbs said by phone from Cleveland. “I already knew broadcasting baseball was the dream. I just needed to get an in and find out how do you get one of those coveted jobs.”

He spent four years selling tickets. Along the way, Grubbs sought insight and inspiration from people such as former Pirates play-by-play man Lanny Frattare and current broadcaster Greg Brown. Frattare, who’s mostly retired now, didn’t recall his interactions with Grubbs but did speak about how hard a journey it is to make the big leagues as a broadcaster.

“I remember when I got my first opportunity to do baseball. I only did two years of minor-league ball. You wonder, is riding buses and not getting paid a lot of money, you wonder if this is going to pay off. But it’s the thrill of putting a headset on,” said Frattare.

Grubbs recalls the positive insight he got from the men who were doing the job he coveted.

“I did get help from Lanny and Greg and the Pirate broadcasters at the time,” said Grubbs. “I got encouragement to go to minor league baseball. I got my first job in 1995 with the Hickory Crawdads.”

Grubbs joined Winston-Salem from 1996-98, then Knoxville from 1999-2001 and was named Southern League Broadcaster of the Year in his final season. In 2002, Grubbs joined the New Orleans Zephyrs, where he called games for 18 seasons until the franchise’s relocation to Wichita in 2019.

Among his most memorable moments included calling the longest game in Pacific Coast League history in 2006, a 24-inning marathon that ran for two days because of a curfew. Grubbs also called a rehab start by Rogers Clemens in Round Rock during that same season. He also shared space in the broadcasting booth that featured Hall of Famers Todd Helton and Vladimir Guerrero.

In 2004, Grubbs was asked to come to Pittsburgh and assist the Houston Astros broadcast team that had called up several players from their Triple-A Zephyr’s club for a five-game series. Hall of Fame broadcaster Milo Hamilton brought Grubbs into the booth to call an inning one night, unbeknownst to Grubbs.

Through it all, Grubbs kept his head down and hoped. He knew reaching his goal would not be easy.

“I knew early, it would be tough to crack the bigs. At 27 years old, I was in Triple-A, the youngster broadcaster at that level, so I felt like it would come. After a decade in New Orleans, the doubts rolled in. A veteran minor-league broadcaster told me to just enjoy it. Don’t stress over the big leagues.”

Frattare cited the accomplishments of Grubbs and that sweeping 30 years of minor-league work under a rug would be foolish.

“There are major-league cities that don’t have major league baseball,” Frattare said. “New Orleans is a major city. Wichita has grown. It’s got to be a thrill for him. Maybe this opportunity will blossom into a chance to do MLB on a regular basis.”

Grubbs will take his act to Detroit starting Monday, as the Twins begin a three-game series against the Tigers. Grubbs can be heard on the SiriusXM app, channel 857 with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m.