"I prayed more in the Dome than I ever did in church."
"We got Justin, we got Joe. That's reason enough to party."
So sings Craig Finn, in a new Twins anthem that's already earning as much media attention as Prince's disastrous "Purple and Gold" fight song for last year's Viking's post-season. Luckily, though, in this case it sounds like the singer spent more than 10 minutes on it (G.B. Leighton's 2010 Twins lead-off song also sounded thrown-together, but did the job). The track is called "Don't Call Them the Twinkies," and it was recorded by the Hold Steady frontman with the Baseball Project, an all-star tribute to the diamond life featuring R.E.M.'s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey along with Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate) and Minneapolis drummer Linda Pitmon (Zuzu's Petals). The Project is releasing a new track every month in conjunction with ESPN, and the timing of this one is obviously as smart as benching Brendan Harris for Danny Valencia.
For those who don't know -- Hold Steady fans are well aware of it -- Finn is an Edina native who's as into the Twins as he is the Replacements and Clash. I once saw him boldly predict the Twins taking the division over the White Sox on stage in Chicago (he was right; that was in 2006). In the song, he shows a knowledge of the team deeper than his monotone voice, citing everything from Vince Scully's and Sandy Koufax's involvement in the 1965 series (six years before he was born) to a memory I also share of my friends getting their drivers licenses in time for us to be downtown during the 1987 series. This song is one more reason I'm feeling very positive this year will be another memorable one.
