Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Kirby Puckett holds a special place in the heart of many Minnesotans. The squat, centre fielder played his entire 12-year career for the Minnesota Twins and is their all-time leader in career hits, runs, doubles, and total bases.In Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, Puckett launched a home run, forcing game 7 and ultimately the World Series win which many consider to be one the most exciting series ever. Following his death in 2006 the city named a street after him and a statue of the rotund player sits outside the Twins' stadium.Puckett is also on the cover of The Greatest of All-Time #2, a compilation of 18 unreleased tracks by 18 musicians and bands from the Twin Cities. Released by Minneapolis label Forged Artificats, proceeds from the comp will benefit the ACLU and Hopewell Music, a music education foundation in North Minneapolis.Private Interests, one of the acts on the comp, have shared their track "Teenage Tom". Taking inspiration from the likes of The Jam, Thin Lizzy, Superchunk, and Tom Petty, the power pop four-piece have so far two released a cassette EP, and a split 7" with MAMA from Chicago.We asked the band's drummer Damian Tank what Kirby meant to him, the band and the city of Minneapolis.-----
October 26, 1991. Game 6 of the World Series: The Twins were tied at home with the Braves in the bottom of the eleventh. Cameron [Soojian (vocals, guitar)] was three days old, about to come home from a New Jersey hospital. Johnny [Johnny Eggerman (vocals, guitar)] was seven-years-old in Kansas City, and didn't care at all about the Twins. I was a twerpy nine-year-old in Indiana watching the game on TV with my mom (my future wife was at the game with her family, sitting behind the Twins dugout!). Trevor's [E (bass)] mom was pregnant with his little brother while they watched in North Minneapolis. Facing Charlie Leibrandt with a 2-1 count, Kirby drilled it over the left field fence, forcing game 7, and ultimately the World Series win.I love watching Kirby run the bases. He's got that goofy baseball body and kinda seems like a teddy bear. There's a bronze statue of him rounding second base outside of the Twins' current stadium, which is on the honorary street Kirby Puckett Place. Minnesota doesn't have many sports heroes that have actually won championships (the WNBA's Lynx are the only other pro franchise still here that have won), so he's a beloved character."
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October 26, 1991. Game 6 of the World Series: The Twins were tied at home with the Braves in the bottom of the eleventh. Cameron [Soojian (vocals, guitar)] was three days old, about to come home from a New Jersey hospital. Johnny [Johnny Eggerman (vocals, guitar)] was seven-years-old in Kansas City, and didn't care at all about the Twins. I was a twerpy nine-year-old in Indiana watching the game on TV with my mom (my future wife was at the game with her family, sitting behind the Twins dugout!). Trevor's [E (bass)] mom was pregnant with his little brother while they watched in North Minneapolis. Facing Charlie Leibrandt with a 2-1 count, Kirby drilled it over the left field fence, forcing game 7, and ultimately the World Series win.I love watching Kirby run the bases. He's got that goofy baseball body and kinda seems like a teddy bear. There's a bronze statue of him rounding second base outside of the Twins' current stadium, which is on the honorary street Kirby Puckett Place. Minnesota doesn't have many sports heroes that have actually won championships (the WNBA's Lynx are the only other pro franchise still here that have won), so he's a beloved character."
'The Greatest of All Time #2' is available May 5 through Forged Artifacts.