The Hold Steady Record 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'

The Hold Steady, an effusive, Springsteen-loving Minnesota band, is giving "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" a personalized, Twins-friendly treatment.

Frontman Craig Finn, who usually sneaks in about 3,000 words per song, is apparently famous for his Twins love at concerts. To wit:

Though he's currently based in Brooklyn, New York, Finn grew up just outside Minneapolis - as evidenced by his lyrical output, which deals almost exclusively with dead-end kids doing dead-end things in and around the Twin Cities. And, as a lifelong Twins fan, he's taken to delivering onstage sermons about the brilliance of pitcher Johan Santana or the intestinal fortitude of former first baseman Kent Hrbek during the band's epic, fist-pumping live sets.

"If anyone's ever been to one of our shows, I'm always shooting my mouth off about the Twins, so people know what team I'm for," Finn laughed. "I mean, when [Twins first baseman Justin] Morneau was named the Major League Baseball American League MVP last year in New York, they thought it was an outrage, and I had a lot to say about that when we'd play there - until some shoes started coming onstage, that is."

So the Twins musical director, Kevin Dutcher, contacted Finn and mates and asked them to do a version of the song, and they did. Simple enough, right?

Here's video of the band recording the song. Should be an interesting take, that's for sure.

(Thanks to J. Walter Weatherman for the tip.)