Jim Thome is Sports Illustrated's 'Prairie Homer Companion'

Jim Thome and Target Field star on the new cover of Sports Illustrated.

Now let's just hope the SI cover jinx doesn't hold true, as the the Twins close in on the AL Central title.

In a feature titled "Prairie Homer Companion," (thank you, Garrison Keillor), SI sees Thome, a 40-year-old future Hall of Famer, as the Twins' key to powering through October and maybe the Fall Classic. Eighth on the all-time home run list, he's the only current Twins player with World Series experience.

But Thome's hardly the first Twin to make the SI cover. We've compiled some of them -- Joe Mauer, Matt Lawton, Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew -- after the jump.