“Baseball was in my bones long before music started to seriously divert my attention.” — Geddy Lee, 72 Stories
In 1983, Rush came to my hometown for their Signals tour and played at the Greensboro Coliseum. The three rocking lads from Toronto were riding high on the heels of their multi-platinum Moving Pictures album. Thanks to my lifelong friend and fellow Rush fan, Robert Miller, who waited in line for two days for tickets, we got front row center seats.
Geddy Lee, the band’s bassist, singer, and keyboard player, had been dropping hints he was a baseball fan. On the Moving Pictures and Signals tours, Geddy popped eyes during their song, The Spirit of Radio. In an apparent reference to the baseball strike, “One likes to believe in the freedom of music” became “One likes to believe in the freedom of baseball.” In the liner notes for Signals, we learned the band and the crew played some games of softball. And get this. Geddy was the pitcher.
So, I decided to wear my SF Giants hat to the concert. Knowing Geddy liked both the Blue Jays and the Expos, I had adopted Les Expos as my second favorite team. Robert was a dye-in-the-wool Dodgers fan, but that night he took one for the team and wore my Expos hat. The donning paid off. At one point, Geddy looked right at us and kept his gaze on us. That’s the type of things one never forgets.
Through the years, I’m certain there were other Rush fans like myself who enjoyed learning more about Geddy’s baseball fandom. It dribbled out slowly, but one memorable moment arrived when a photo came out showing him sitting in what appeared to be a room in his house Looking mighty proud, Geddy was surrounded by baseball photos, bats and balls, and ephemera.
Despite the rigors of being a musician who helped create 18 studio albums and played over 2,000 shows, it turned out Geddy is indeed a huge baseball fan. As a season ticket holder since 1979, he has been to many Blue Jays games. I would watch their games on TV whenever I could. It soon became apparent that Geddy was a true fan. He brought his pencil and kept score.
Geddy has seen games in ballparks across the land, headed down to Florida to some Spring Training action, gotten to know players and skippers, sang his country’s National Anthem at the 1993 All-Star Game in Baltimore, thrown out First Pitches, played in Fantasy Baseball leagues, analyzed Front Office moves, and collected and donated baseballs to the Negro Hall of Fame Museum in Kansas City.
In his memoir, “My Effin Life,” he does touch on his being a fan, but I have to confess I wanted more.
Now, with the release of 72 Stories, we have it. Geddy, also author of “Geddy Lee's Big Beautiful Book of Bass,” leads off with a seven-page Introduction. At one point he humbly quips that it’s getting too long. Not to worry author, we’re loving it.
As the reader would expect, the Introduction focuses mostly on his stories of collecting. But Geddy also provides what amounts to a small oral history of being a fan. Photos enhance his telling of the stories. Some are ones I have never seen. Geddy even put together a nifty set of photos he calls — “My (Sort of) Career in Baseball.” One of the captions could have been - "Working Them Angels Overtime." Ok, sorry, that’s Inside Rush…
One thread that weaves through part of the 160-page book is as Geddy describes it, the stories of human struggle, of players overcoming adversity and achieving greatness. If I may say so, some of that dovetails nicely with some of Rush’s songs. I was reminded of the lyrics the late Neil Peart wrote for the song - "Mission."
Hold your fire
Keep it burning bright
Hold the flame
'Til the dream ignites
A spirit with a vision
Is a dream with a mission...
It all adds up to a wonderful and thoughtful valentine to the game and some of its greatest moments and achievements. As a former member of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), I was thrilled Geddy uses some of their biographies. They're the gold standard. And the photography is top of the line.
It’s not certain what’s up next for Geddy Lee. No doubt he’ll be keeping his arm in shape. Toronto is said to be in the running to host the All Star Game in a few years. Perhaps they will ask Geddy to throw out the first pitch.
In our book, they could not do better. When he throws out first pitches, Geddy does a darn good job. Practice no doubt helps, and he wears his glove.
Now there’s a story…
Note: This limited first edition of Geddy’s book, cloth-bound, is available only at the Rush Backstage website. A regular version of 72 Stories will be published in May, 2025.
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