Don't Call Them Twinkies!

*If you don't care at all about baseball or the Minnesota Twins, you can probably skip this one, but I feel sorry for you.*

My plan was to hold off on posting this song until opening day of the baseball season, but Amazon currently has it available for free and at least Spring Training is underway, so I suppose there's no time like the present.

Twins fans may recognize the song, "Don't Call Them Twinkies" by The Baseball Project (featuring Craig Finn of The Hold Steady). It was recorded last year and made available to stream during the end of the season while the Twins were making a playoff push (and unfortunately subsequently getting pushed out of the playoffs far too quickly again). I may be biased since I am a huge Twins fan, but I don't think it's much of a stretch to call it one of the greatest songs ever to mention both Zoilo Versailles winning the MVP and Ron Gant foolishly falling off first in the '91 World Series.

Craig Finn, who guests on the track, is the lead singer for The Hold Steady. The rest of the group is from New York, but Finn grew up in Minnesota and liberally sprinkles Twin Cities references throughout his songs. I saw The Hold Steady perform here in Iowa City a few months ago and Finn even gave a shoutout to "AL Manager of the Year Ron Gardenhire".

The Baseball Project consists of Steve Wynn, Peter Buck of R.E.M., Scott McCaughey of The Minus 5, and Linda Pitmon of I'm not sure. They came together to write songs about baseball, which seems like a pretty easy idea to get behind. I didn't pay much attention to their first album, but their second album, Volume 2: High and Inside, was just released yesterday, and I definitely plan on checking out this one. ESPN had 6 of their songs available to stream before the release, and they were pretty enjoyable. But honestly, with song names like "Panda and The Freak" and "Ichiro Goes to the Moon" they are almost certain to be great.

Here's a video that a fan made with great pictures and videos to go along with the song. Play ball!



You can download the song free from Amazon here and pick up the rest of the album for $7.99 if you feel so inclined.

***UPDATE*** You can actually stream the whole album to give it a test run before you buy it at Spinner.com here

In 1965, I wasn't quite alive yet
But I'm told they gave the MVP to Zoilo Versalles
Oliva hit the singles and Harmon hit the homers
Mudcat Grant won twenty games and we didn't play in a dome yet
The Dodgers came to Bloomington to play for the World Series
The Twins took the first two, you can even ask Vin Scully
but Sandy Koufax proved to be a bit too much to crack
and the Twins went down in seven but they vowed that they'd be back

From Nicollet to Hennepin, from St. Paul to St. Cloud
The Minnesota Twins are making Minnesotans proud
and we don't buy our titles, so there's summers where we stink
But these are grown men, these are heroes
So please don't call them 'twinkies'

In the fall of '87 I was pretty much in heaven
I got my license and a girlfriend, the Twins had won the pennant
I prayed more in the dome than I ever did in church
Kirby Puckett had the smile, Kent Hrbek has the smirk
First we tamed the Tigers then we were dealt the Cards
And they came to the Twin Cities tried to make sense of our park
It was loud and it was close, and it went to seven games
But the Twins took home the title and that Sweet Music played

Edina to Duluth, from the south side of downtown
Minnesota Twins are making Minnesotans proud
so hear us make some noise, c'mon wave those Homer Hankies
These are grown men, these are heroes
please don't call them 'twinkies'

in 1991 the Twins were once again on top
we faced Atlanta in the series, and they thought that they were hot
And I ain't seen somethin' so lame as that Fonda-hawk Chop
But we were up against the ropes when Kirby called his shot
And as he ran around the bases, smilin', pumpin fist
We all knew that he had won it, and it was only just game six
And the next night Jack Morris came and made his hometown proud
You should watch it in slow motion:
Ron Gant was clearly out.

From Mankato up to Brainerd, from Burnsville to Bemidji
Now we're playing outdoor baseball and that's the way it should be
Raise a toast to Kirby Puckett, raise another to Tom Kelly
They're the Minnesota Twins
So let's not call 'em 'twinkies'

We got Justin, we got Joe, that's enough reason to party
We don't buy our titles but we still won two World Series
So grab yourself a 3.2 beer and raise a toast to Gardy
They're the Minnesota Twins
So please don't call them 'twinkies'