Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli Slickly Shouts Out Spafford At Press Conference

Minnesota Twins manager and jam fan Rocco Baldelli continues to show love for some of his favorite bands during post-game press conferences as the team navigates the Major League Baseball playoffs. After dropping Phish song titles last week, Baldelli worked the names of two Spafford songs into responses this past Sunday.

The Spafford references came following the Twins big win over defending World Series champions, the Houston Astros, in the second game of the American Leage Division Series. The Twins beat the Astros 6-1 at Houston’s Minute Maid Park to even the series at one game a piece.

Rocco Baldelli mentioned Spafford as well as Phish, the Grateful Dead, Greensky Bluegrass and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead when listing his current favorite groups for a Relix profile in 2022. Baldelli first fit the name of Spafford’s 2021 single, “Giants In The Light,” into a response about Twins player Carlos Correa. “There’s some guys they are giants in the light,” the manager said of the all-star shortstop. Spafford has played the song 32 times since its live debut on August 4, 2021.

Spaffnerd Rocco Baldelli had one more reference to drop. This time he chose “Backdoor Funk,” a classic number that dates back to 2012 which the band finally recorded in the studio for their 2022 LP Simple Mysteries. Baldelli was discussing Game 2 starting pitcher Pablo López. “You’re kinda looking for that backdoor funk pitch,” the former Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays player exclaimed while showing off the delivery.

Watch footage of the press conference queued to the “Giants In The Light” reference below and skip to the 4:12 mark to see Baldelli bring up “Backdoor Funk”:

Spafford returns to the road for the second leg of their fall tour later this month. Scroll below for a full list of tour dates.