DUNEDIN — For nearly 50 years, Dennis Holmberg lived and breathed professional baseball as a player, coach and manager. The longtime Dunedin resident retired at the end of 2023 after amassing 1,560 victories as a minor league manager over 32 years — all but 43 of those wins in the Toronto Blue Jays system.

After a year away from the game, Holmberg is back. Not on the field, but in the radio booth as a color commentator for select Dunedin Blue Jays games.

“It’s been fun,” said Holmberg, who turned 74 on Aug. 2. “It puts me back in the ballpark. I still have connections to about half a dozen players, and I know the coaching staff.”

The partnership began when play-by-play announcer Eli Fishman, the team’s coordinator of broadcasting and media relations, sought a broadcast partner.

“This is my first season with the Blue Jays, and for most of the year, I’ve been calling games solo,” Fishman said. “About a month into the season, I asked Shelby Nelson (vice president of Florida operations) if he had suggestions for a former Blue Jays player or coach who might join me as a color commentator. Someone who could talk baseball and Blue Jays and share a laugh.”

Nelson quickly recommended Holmberg, who gives baseball lessons to Nelson’s son and was already attending games regularly. The transition happened naturally.

“Dennis, being a true baseball lifer, was happy to step into the booth, and it has turned into a great partnership,” Fishman said. “He’s the kind of guy you just can’t keep away from the ballpark. After being away from the game, I think getting back and talking baseball every day has been meaningful for him, just as it’s been a privilege for me to share the booth with someone who’s spent his life in the game.”

The Blue Jays landed a broadcaster whose knowledge of baseball — and especially their organization — is arguably unmatched.

Drafted in 1970 by the Milwaukee Brewers, Holmberg spent eight years as a third baseman in their minor league system. When his playing career ended, he got his first managing job with the Brewers’ New York-Penn League Single-A team in 1977, finishing with an impressive 43-29 record.

Two years later, when the Brewers went in another direction, Holmberg joined the Blue Jays organization as manager of their rookie league team in Medicine Hat, Alberta — the start of a relationship that lasted until his retirement.

Holmberg credits team executives Paul Beeston and Pat Gillick, the future Hall of Fame general manager, as believers who shaped his career.

“It all started with him,” Holmberg said of Gillick. “I owe him a lot. A great person, a great human.”

Holmberg’s managerial career included standout seasons like the 1990 Florida State League club that went 53-14 in the first half and the 2003 Auburn, N.Y., team that finished 56-18.

The Auburn season included a memorable motivational tactic. After a slow start, Holmberg challenged his team by promising to add a fish to the clubhouse tank for every win. By season’s end, the tank was overcrowded.

From 2011-18, he managed in Bluefield, W.Va., earning Manager of the Year honors in his first season there. Between managing stints, Holmberg also served as bullpen coach for the Blue Jays in 1994 and 1995.

But his greatest impact came through his work with younger players, which earned him the Mike Coolbaugh Award in 2017, recognizing outstanding work ethic, baseball knowledge and skill in mentoring young players.

“I was making my way up the food chain, but my niche was always working with younger kids,” said Holmberg, who managed future major leaguers including Noah Syndergaard, Kevin Millar, Aaron Hill and Carlos Delgado. “Those first years you are creating the foundation, working on fundamentals. Teaching them the right way to play the game and play hard. Finding the little things that’ll get them better — not just as players but acclimating them to the pros and preparing them for the next level.”

His overall managerial winning percentage of .523 ranks among the finest in minor league history.

The Blue Jays organization provided more than just employment for Holmberg over the decades. When his wife, Diane, was seriously injured in a car crash in the summer of 1985 while he was managing a game in Syracuse, N.Y., the organization rallied around him.

“The Blue Jays stood by me and provided me with a support system,” he said.

Diane never fully recovered and died in 2023.

“She was a good wife, a good baseball wife,” Holmberg said. “She was perfect. And then something like that happens. It was a shock, of course.”

Baseball remains in the family through Holmberg’s son Kenny, who had a successful high school career, was drafted and spent several years in the minors before turning to coaching. He has worked with the Texas Rangers for several years and currently serves as their minor league field coordinator while maintaining his role as infield coordinator for more than 10 years.

Now, for listeners who catch Holmberg’s commentary during Dunedin games, they’ll hear insights few others can provide — the perspective of someone whose career few can match.

“A lot of long road trips along the way,” Holmberg reflected. “I’ve enjoyed it all.”