Forbidden Love is a Cubs DNA series where our staff waxes poetic about a player on a team other than the Cubs. Maybe even one you think they should hate. In this installment, Staci's here to introduce you to one of the fiercest women in MLB, Minnesota Twins broadcaster Marney Gellner!
Let me just admit this right up front: this installment of Forbidden Love is a complete sham. A total cheat. Why? Because there is no reason why anyone shouldn't love Marney Gellner. The problem is, you've probably never heard of Marney if you don't live in Minnesota. My mission is to introduce you to the Fierceness of Marney. The Church of Gellner. By the end of this, I want you to understand why Marney is so awesome, and why she's one of my biggest female sports role models.
Most MLB teams have female field reporters. The Cubs had Kelly Crull and now Taylor McGregor. Both ladies are fabulous, and I take nothing away from their talents. The Twins, though? Well, they are blessed with Marney, whose duties and talents go well beyond just doing interviews with players in the dugout and reporting from foul territory.
For example, in 2017 after then-Tiger Austin Romine played all nine positions in a game, Marney decided she wanted to try her hand at nine different broadcast positions during a Twins game. And she did it!
Not that I ever had any doubt, because Marney is awesome! Since then, she also did a play-by-play stint with the Twins during spring training in 2019, becoming the first woman to ever do play-by-play for a Twins television broadcast. In the process, not only did Marney do a fantastic job for the Twins, but she also created her own fabulous home run call:
That's right... you best call your mama! The thing is, though, that Marney isn't just here for baseball. No, Marney has been doing play-by-play for the Minnesota Lynx WNBA team and sideline reporting for the Minnesota Timberwolves for Fox Sports North since 2002. Yes, now you might see the connection since I'm a huge Timberwolves fan and Marney is part of what is, in my opinion, the best local NBA broadcasting team in all of sports. (Shout out to Benzy and Jim Pete!) Marney also made NBA history in 2018 when she was only the 2nd woman ever to do play-by-play for a televised NBA game, filling in for an absent Dave Benz:
And of course she did a fantastic job, because duh... it was Marney. Ultimately, Marney Gellner is the kind of woman we need in sports--knowledgeable, intelligent, warm, down-to-earth, authoritative--all the things that I look for in a broadcaster regardless of gender. Plus, if she catches herself wearing a shirt that looks like a sofa, she knows how to make a fabulous Golden Girls reference:
I've never identified with anyone more. While I'd say I wish the Cubs could pry Marney away from the Twins, honestly... she belongs in Minnesota. Plus, I'd never want to break up the Wolves dream team, which would just be tragic! At least, until the rest of the world realizes how awesome Marney is and she gets the national recognition she deserves. It's coming, my friends.
Probably not for this, though. ;)