Paul Molitor reiterated that Twins closer Glen Perkins will stick to the traditional closer's role in 2015, and will likely not be used in other "high-leverage" situations for the time being.
Perhaps more importantly, he will need to shelve his street magic aspirations until after the season's over.
"Molly's the boss," said Perkins. "I'm going to do what's best for the team, and that's all there is to it.
"But I'm not going to pretend that street magic is any less of a priority for me. The Twins are 1, but street magic is 1A."
The All-Star closer said he caught the magic bug from former teammate Michael Cuddyer, but wanted to bring a gritty urban realism to his illusions.
"Being from Stillwater, I'm from the streets, and I want my street magic to reflect that. I have bought a cape and pants, but they're dark, muted colors. I'm not a clown."
Perkins then demonstrated a series of card and coin tricks to the media assembled at one of the Fort Myers practice fields. At the conclusion of each one, he would scream, "HANNNNNNNNNNN," kiss the index and middle fingers on his pitching hand, point at the sky, and throw a small smoke bomb on the ground.
"I don't understand it at all," said longtime Twins beat writer LaVelle E. Neal III. "I mean, you can see where the cards are marked. And he still messed up one of the tricks."
Perkins said he knows it's a work in progress, but he also knows there's life after baseball.
"Sure, some of my act is rough, but the streets are rough. That's why it's called street magic. Come November, people are going to see that.
"HANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN."