Minnesota Twins Will Honor Prince on June 16
To honor the memory of Minneapolis musician Prince, the Minnesota Twins are hosting “Prince Night” on June 16 at Target Field.
At one time, 1960s icon Bob Dylan was the singer/songwriter most closely associated with Minneapolis. Then the 1980s and 1990s happened and a new generation of fans crowned Prince king of the city. Purple Rain, the breakout Prince film in 1984, had numerous scenes filmed in Minneapolis, with the stage at First Avenue Club on 7th street playing a prominent role.
Friday was the one-year anniversary of Prince’s death, which came as a shock to music fans everywhere last April. In Minneapolis, there is a celebration of Prince’s life happening this weekend at Paisley Park. This celebration will feature live music and discussions about the talent, influence, and importance of Prince in the music industry, along with appearances by many who were closest to Prince during his career.
This is just one of many ways Prince fans can remember the pop star. Paisley Park has tours scheduled Thursdays through Sundays during which fans can see the 65,000-square foot home of Prince, which includes the studio where he created so many of his popular songs. The tour allows fans to see many items once belonging to Prince, including concert wardrobes, awards he won, instruments he played, artwork, and rare music and video recordings.
Elsewhere around the city, the Minnesota Historical Society is currently displaying the iconic purple suit Prince wore in the movie Purple Rain. On Saturday, there is a memorial street party on 7th street along with a late night dance party at First Avenue. Sunday afternoon brings a kids dance party at First Avenue (“I Would Dance 4 U”), which is free for kids 17 and under.
More from Call to the Pen
- Philadelphia Phillies, ready for a stretch run, bomb St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies: The 4 players on the franchise’s Mount Rushmore
- Boston Red Sox fans should be upset over Mookie Betts’ comment
- Analyzing the Boston Red Sox trade for Dave Henderson and Spike Owen
- 2023 MLB postseason likely to have a strange look without Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals
The recognition for Prince will continue into the summer. The Minnesota Twins recently announced they will honor the artist with “Prince Night” on June 16. Before and during the game, Prince music will be played throughout the ballpark. Twins players and staff will wear Prince themed t-shirts during batting practice that will be auctioned off at twinsbaseball.com, with the proceeds going to Achieve Minneapolis. A “Purple Rain” umbrella, featuring a very cool and colorful image of Prince on the iconic motorcycle he rode during the movie, will be given to the first 10,000 fans at Target Field.
During the game, the seventh-inning stretch will be sung by students from Minneapolis Public Schools. After the game, there will be a Prince-themed fireworks show that will hopefully include as much purple as possible. It should be a great time for Prince fans. In addition to all of the fun pre-game and in-game activities, the Minnesota Twins are donating a $10,000 grant in honor of Prince to the Minnesota Public Schools. The grant is aimed at benefiting students with an interest in music.
Prince’s music history is well known, but he also had an athletic side. The late Charlie Murphy tells a story about playing basketball with Prince. Charlie and his friends ran into Prince and the Revolution at a nightclub and Prince invited them all back to his place. They end up playing basketball, Charlie’s friends against Prince and the Revolution. As Charlie tells it (NSFW—adult language), Prince was quite the basketball player. Apparently, Prince was also a big fan of pancakes.
That’s only my second-favorite sports story involving Prince. Last April, shortly after Prince’s death, Jimmy Fallon told a terrific story about playing Ping-Pong with Prince. The way he tells it brings Prince to life. You can just picture it in your head. It’s incredible.
Next: Dodger Injuries Already Piling Up
Prince also had a song called “Grand Slam” on the 1988 album, Lovesexy. Despite it’s name, it has nothing to do with baseball. In the song, a grand slam is an entirely different thing, although it does involve going all the way around the bases in a non-baseball sense. Prince also owned a nightclub in Minneapolis called Grand Slam, but sold it after eight frustrating years. It turned out, Prince was better at creating music, playing basketball and Ping-Pong, and making pancakes, than he was at running a nightclub. “Prince Night” at Target Field on June 16 should be a great time for baseball fans and Prince fans.