Zoilo, Tony, and the Brew

Years ago I was caught up in the song "Willie, Mickey, and the Duke", aka "Talkin' Baseball", written and recorded by Terry Cashman. I thought it might be clever to write a Twins parody to the song. Joe Souchery, then of the Star Tribune and author of "Once there was a Ballpark", got wind of my song, gave me a special number to his Sportstalk show on KSTP, and I called in and sang it on the radio show. Rob Leer of KSTP news heard it and invited me to sing it on the news broadcast in August 1981. There was a baseball strike on at the time, so I guess the sports desk was a little slow. I am sharing the lyrics here:

Zoilo, Tony, and the Brew
(sung to the tune of Talkin' Baseball)

The Millers had Galen Cisco, The Giants moved to Frisco,
And watching minors wasn't too much fun.
The Majors were a dream, The Met needed a team
Then Calvin moved the Senators from Washington.

Talkin' Baseball
Bertoia, Bonokowski
Talkin' Baseball
Mincher, Perranoski
The Mudcat, the Kitty, and Old Blue
They knew them from Duluth to Waterloo,
Especially Zoilo, Tony, and the Brew.

And then came the Series, The fans were delirious,
To watch their hometown boys play in the fall
Jim Grant was at his best, The Twins had met the test
'Til Sandy blitzed them down with his fastball

Talkin' Baseball
Bertoia, Bonokoski
Talkin' Baseball
Mincher, Perranoski
The Mudcat, the Kitty, and Old Blue
They knew them from Duluth to Waterloo,
Especially Zoilo, Tony, and the Brew.

Now my old friend Brandy, he loved to watch the Killer Clout 'em out,
And my pals from the alley, would go to see Versalles,
And me, I always loved Tony O. -- Where did they go?

The fans now are bored, with Jackson and Ward,
And Calvin, and Twinkie, and the boys.
With Adams and the Koos, they always seem to lose,
The crack of the bat at the Met is just a lot of noise.

Talkin' Baseball
Roy Smalley and Castino
Talkin' Baseball
They ought to go get Dino
Sluggers, my gosh they need a few
Goodwin and Butch will never do
They're not like Zoilo, Tony and the Brew.

That's the original. The reference to Dino was Cicerelli who was tearing up the NHL with the North Stars at the time. In 1982, I added the following verse:

The fans in the first deck are now cheering Hrbek
Since Calvin traded half the team away
They've got a brand new home, it's downtown in the Dome,
In spite of rain or snow there'll be a game today.

Talkin' Baseball
Eight dollars gets you in
Talkin' Baseball,
Go out and see them win
Though Gary, Kent, and Tom will park a few,
There'll never be another Rod Carew,
They're not like Zoilo, Tony and the Brew.

So, that was 26 years ago. If I ever write a new verse, or expand the song, you can believe Kirby and two World Series Championships will find their way into it.