Last Of The Ninth 1965 Record LP

[AUDIO REINSERTED: DEC. 26, 2011. first POSTED IN MAR., 2011]This is an original album produced by radio station WCCO (CBS-Minneapolis) in 1965 to commemorate the American League pennant winning Twins.  It has some excellent game and player sound clips from many of the players of that club --Harmon, Tony, Zoilo, and the announcing team of Herb Carneal (great '65 All Star Game clip), Halsey Hall and Ray Scott are all here. Later, make SURE you check out the classic video clip of Ray with 2 other legends.

I heard it years ago on LP when I was a kid. I was smitten immediately, and I can trace my love of Twins history to that event. It, of course, is a passion that dovetailed nicely into the worldly passions of baseball card collecting, and making awkward advances towards the fairer sex (for some reason, the lasses have never been enamored with my encyclopedic knowledge of the '77 Topps Baseball set). Ah, women...a fickle, hard to please race of beings! Anyways, I've been looking for the original version of LOT9TH ever since, with hopes of finding a working copy off Ebay or Amazon for play on ye olde Victrola.  It's a toughie, having out of print since the Johnson administration, and the people I discover that own it don't want to part with it. Gravy sucking, elitist cake eaters...


Otherwise...
Looking to post up another update of "Twins Phenoms Of Springs Past" again this weekend.  Enjoy the Twins-Rays preseason game today.  It'll be interesting to see how the roster shapes up, and how our starters like Baker and Slowey respond to the pressure of their competition for the 5th starters role [ edit. note: some competition, as Slowey basically had to be Walter Johnson last spring to lengthen Mgr. Gardy's  short leash ]. If Baker had been able to perform last year up to his capabilities, there would never be this current situation he finds himself in. Go Luke Hughes!

Album Jacket photos and source embeds courtesy 

of Vinyl From Hell (site may be "de-funked" at present).

It will all sort itself out, one way or the other.

As Herb would say "...and the count rides along."

"Don't Call Them Twinkies," A New Twins Fight Song For You! By Craig Finn And The Baseball Project

Here's the new ditty By The Baseball Project & Craig Finn.

Song author and lead vocalist Craig Finn of The Hold Steady

could pass of a long-lost brother of Hall of Fame pitcher Bruce Sutter.

 With thanks for photo and accompanying info

 courtesy of  MPR: The Current.

Not sure I'm sold on it.  A couple more listenings, and I might be seen running down Sunrise Avenue, Homer Hanky a-wavin,' screaming "Glory Hallelujah!!" Doubltess, Missus Twins Twinkler would endorse that.

The band — which also features Steve "The Toy Cannon" Wynn of Dream Syndicate, R.E.M.’s Peter "John" Buck and Scott "Mr." McCaughey, Zuzu's Petals drummer Linda "Miss Jane" Pitmon — deliver a working-class hardrockin'-jangly-I-tore-my-pants-on-a-barn stud of a song to go with other between-inning hits like John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” or “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Finn drops some nostalgic lyrics about legendary outfielder Kirby Puckett:

"In the fall of '87, I was pretty much in heaven / I got my licence and a girlfriend, and the Twins had won the pennant," he quivers on the cut.  Finn is tentatively scheduled to appear on the Minneapolis/St. Paul 1500 am radio postgame segment on Sunday, Oct. 3 to discuss the song. But as we well know, rockers are notoriously unreliable and footloose and fancyfree, so that's subject to change...

BTY: I know you've been dying to know: personally, I've never liked the "Twinkies" tag.  That's because I know it originated (at least in my recollection) during the '80s, before the Championship season, as a slightly derisive moniker for team when it, well, sucked.

Of course, I've always been kind of partial towards the original 1961 "Win! Twins!" song by Ray Charles (not THAT one) and Dick ("Don't Call Me Richie") Wilson.  It is available in the sidebar for your eternal happiness.

AND AS IF you haven't heard it, here's a video with the song mentioned above, played as background ambience: it was played during the Twins Legends game a few weeks ago as the portly and disheveled former Twins players took to the field!




May Your Taters Fly Far!
Twinkler Out