Play Ball and Enjoy 20 Hits with the Atheists!

By Eric Jayne

Many will be coming to the Twin Cities in a few weeks to play ball with the atheists!

It appears that there will be at least 70 atheists at Midway Stadium on August 10th rooting on the Mr. Paul Aints—which is what the team will be renamed that night—and cheering for American Atheists President Dave Silverman as he delivers the first ceremonial pitch of the game.

The name change is a light-hearted way to captivate and represent our community.

The player worn jerseys will be auctioned off at the end of the game and some of the proceeds will go to the charitable Volunteers Beyond Belief.

The following day we’ll gather at the Double Tree Hotel in lovely downtown St. Paul and listen to a stellar line up of great speakers including Hector Avalos, Robert Price, Ayanna Watson, PZ Myers, Teresa MacBain, Dave Silverman, Jessica Ahlquist, and Andy Thomson.

The evening will conclude by getting our spirits high with a pub crawl in downtown St. Paul.  

If you have a long drive and you’re looking for some good tunes to listen to on the way to St. Paul, or if you just want to celebrate the mood of the weekend, I have included a list of 20 apropos songs. Half of the songs celebrate baseball and half celebrate freethinking atheism. They are listed below in an alternating fashion. You may notice that Wilco has two entries—one is a baseball song, and the other, “One Sunday Morning,” is one that I consider to be among my favorite, most thoughtful songs ever. Enjoy these "hits"…

1.     Centerfield - John Fogerty
2.     And When I Die - Blood, Sweat & Tears
3.     A Dying Cub Fan’s Last Request - Steve Goodman
4.     Dear God - XTC
5.     Joe DiMaggio Done it Again - Wilco
6.     Hard Believer - First Aid Kit
7.     1976 - Baseball Project
8.     The Only Way (Hymn) - Emerson, Lake & Palmer
9.     Catfish - Bob Dylan
10.     Imagine - John Lennon
11.     Talkin’ Baseball - Terry Cashman
12.     East Jesus Nowhere - Green Day
13.     Tessie - Dropkick Murphys
14.     One Sunday Morning - Wilco
15.     Baseball Card Lover - Rockin’ Ritchie Ray
16.     Four Winds - Bright Eyes
17.     Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
18.     One Foot - Fun
19.     The Greatest - Kenny Rogers
20.     Rational Response - Greydon Square