Glen Perkins Selects "The Girl from Ipanema" as New Entrance Music

In something of a surprise move, Glen Perkins announced to reporters on Thursday that he's switching his bullpen entrance music to "The Girl from Ipanema," a 1964 soft jazz hit by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto.

Perkins, who had just recently started using Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" as his ninth-inning soundtrack, says the new tune is "not a superstition thing" or a commentary on the Cash song, but rather a reflection of where his head's at now.

"Johnny Cash is a (darn) legend," said Perkins.  "And that song is a (darn) jam.  But, ever since my DJ project petered out, I've kind of been searching for my next thing, you know?  And bossa nova is the (stuff) that's speaking to me right now."

(Perkins' DJ project, "Glen's Twerkin'," was shuttered last winter when his vinyl copy of REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity developed a scratch on the A side.  "That's where all the killer 'Wagon jams are," the closer bemoaned.  "You ever try to get a Stillwater party going and 'Take It On the Run' starts skipping?  Man.")

Bossa nova, a style of music closely tied to the country of Brazil, came to prominence in the '50s and '60s, and is often referred to as "lounge music."  Perkins, who has 30 saves in 34 opportunities this season, says he really enjoys the pulsing, insinuating rhythms and chilled-out beats.

"It's soothing, and it helps me chuck heaters."

Longtime observers say this is the latest in the season a Twins closer has swapped out entrance music since Doug Corbett started using Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Love" over Labor Day weekend in 1981.