I reached out to my cousin (Chris) Baio after they announced the second leg of their ‘Only God Was Above Us’ tour and asked if I could tag along.”
“I told him I’ve never played an instrument my entire life but that I have the work ethic necessary to become a multi-instrumentalist in less than two months,” he continued, adding, “Baio told me he’d talk to Ezra (Koenig) and Chris (Tomson) and that he’d get back to me before spring training ended. Luckily, he called me this past Thursday and told me I was in so, yeah, I’m an indie artist now, man!”
Bader had been performing well for Minnesota this spring, hitting .286/.390/.429 with 10 hits, two doubles, one home run, and a 120 wRC+ over 41 plate appearances. The 30-year-old had also netted playing time at all three outfield positions, signaling what his role with the playoff-hopeful club would have been this upcoming season.
“I mean, no offense to the Twins and their fanbase, but I could give three s***s about baseball now. Have you listened to their most recent album? It’s fantastic.”
Vampire Weekend’s upcoming tour begins May 10 at the Just Like Heaven Festival in Pasadena, CA, and ends on Sept. 27 in Ocean City, MD, at the Oceans Calling Festival.
The tour is primarily US-based. However, the alternative group will travel abroad to Japan and across Europe in August. Twins Daily reached out to Koenig for specifics on Bader’s role with the group, to which he replied: “Yeah, Harrison’s going to do a lot for us. Right now, we plan for him to be the guy who shouts ‘Hey, hey, hey, hey’ to the crowd during ‘A-Punk.’
We also plan for him to break out into interpretative dance during the sax solo in ‘Classical’ and dabble with playing the Baio family out-of-tune balalaika during ‘Pravda,’ assuming he can learn the instrument in less than two months.”
“I think this is really cool, actually,” exclaimed Twins Executive Vice President Joe Pohlad. “I mean, I haven’t listened to Vampire Weekend since, like, 2009, but I loved their early aesthetic of being prep school kids and hanging out on the beach at Cape Cod. It reminded me of my childhood.”
When asked about Bader’s unexpected departure, Twins President of Baseball and Business Operations Derek Falvey told reporters, “Yeah, I mean, I’m stoked for Harrison. I also think this is really cool.
And, glass half full, maybe Harrison can help us contend for a championship once the tour ends in late September.
Nevertheless, this type of development touches our creative approach to roster construction in a literal sense. We love guys who appreciate the arts.”
Bader’s departure will thin the club’s outfield depth, especially from the right side of the plate.
That said, the organization is excited to provide Austin Martin an opportunity while going to great lengths not to award an ever-deserving DaShawn Keirsey Jr. his shot.
Tune in to Twins Daily for updates on Bader’s role in the tour and how the club’s outfield depth shakes out as the 2025 season begins next Thursday in St. Louis.
