The New York Mets will play the final baseball game at Shea Stadium this fall. Billy Joel, a quintessential New Yorker and baseball lover, will play the final musical notes at the stadium, which has been home to the Amazin’s since 1964, in July. From the Beatles historical concerts to Dwight Gooden’s fastball, Shea has provided some fantastic memories. Here’s a few remembered, mash-up style:
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant – Mike Piazza, who certainly provided his share of Amazin’ moments for the Mets, will probably best be remembered for his performance in the first baseball game played in New York in the post-9/11 era. On September 20, 2001, Piazza hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning that lifted the Mets over the Atlanta Braves 3-2 and brought the tiniest bit of joy to a still weeping New York City.
A Matter of Trust – The Mets lose the first two games of the 1986 World Series at Shea to the Red Sox setting off panic after a 108-win regular season and a dramatic NLCS win over Houston. Tim Teufel’s through-the-wickets error allows the lone run in Game One and Dwight Gooden is shelled for six runs on eight hits over five innings in a 9-3 Game Two loss. The Mets turn it around and win Games Three and Four in Boston.
Read on for eleven more Billy Joel songs that just drive Mr. Met absolutely crazy…
Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell is the rare professional conservationist who spends years of his life traveling on gas-guzzling planes. Leavell, who is best known to us for his monumental piano solo on the studio version of Jessica, visited five continents with the Stones on their recent “A Bigger Bang” tour. Chuck explains how he would pass the time by drafting setlists and arrangements in an article he wrote for the NY Times.
Hopefully this batch of links will help you get over the midweek hump:
Finally, stars of baseball and rock ‘n’ roll came together on Sunday night for the eighth annual Hot Stove Cool Music benefit in Boston. Where else can you see Little Feat, Theo Epstein and Peter Gammons all on the same stage? That must’ve been one helluva Dixie Chicken.
Bruce Springsteen loves Joe Torre, so when the former Yankee manager asked him to play a few songs at his Safe At Home benefit on Friday night, The Boss gladly mumbled “Yes.” Bruce started off with a cover of California Sun, complete with lyrics about Torre’s move to the West Coast. The highlight of the night came when former Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams join Springsteen for a rockin’ version of Glory Days. Torre may have forgotten how to lead a team out of the first round of the playoffs, but he sure knows how to throw a party. No word on whether Springsteen has been put on the 15-day DL with a “tired arm.”
- XM launched a station dedicated to the music of Led Zeppelin
- Go ‘head, make the jokes: A man was tased in the ass for a prolonged period of time at a Girl Talk concert in St. Louis
- Grace Potter thinks of her band as Slayer with a girl
- The Motown songwriting team puts together a list of their favorite musicals
- If you haven’t seen the “24 in 1994″ video, get on it!
- Jay-Z listens to Arcade Fire and plans to pay Radiohead $50 for In Rainbows
- Lou Reed: Jerk or Nice Guy?
- Everyone’s got a festival: Will Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park be the site of a huge ACL-like music festival next summer?
- Peter Gabriel lays out his vision for net music [via lhb]
- Dave Matthews Band is putting out their recent show in Georgia on both CD and DVD
And if you’ve got anything for us this morning, sound off below…
How much does it suck to have a show scheduled in Boston this weekend during the World Series? Just ask a frustrated Ryan Montbleau…
October has begun, which means it’s time for baseball’s postseason. The playoffs kicked off last night, and I can’t remember a better collection of eight teams fighting for the championship, whether young and scrappy or experienced and powerful. Baseball and live music are similar in that you never know what’s going to happen when you enter a venue. You may see your boys play the game or show of their lives, or you may see their hopes crushed by a bad performance.
Given the similarities between music and sport, it’s no wonder that many baseball players are also musicians. So this week’s B List looks at eight baseball players who can handle both a fastball and the pentatonic scale with ease.
1. Bernie Williams: The Yankees longtime centerfielder is also a critically acclaimed guitar player who has released an album entitled The Journey Within. Bernie has a few connections to the jamband world thanks to his appearance at the Jammys in 2001, and his recent sit-in with the Allman Brothers at the Beacon.
Read on after the jump for a video of Bernie playing Who’s Been Talking with that other Derek, and for seven more baseball musicians as well…
For the final installment of the first annual Hidden Track Baseball Preview, I spoke with U-Melt’s Rob Salzer about his band and his beloved Metropolitans.
Scott Bernstein: How closely are you able to follow the Mets from the road?
Rob Salzer: Honestly, it’s hard to watch all the games. But we keep up pretty well. Some of us have Internet on our phones, so we are able to follow the team. Finding hotels with wireless internet is key. Unfortuntely we don’t get to see as many games as we would like, but we are able to keep tabs on the Mets.
SB: Are the other guys in the band into baseball?
RS: Everyone in the band is a fan of baseball. Myself and Zac, the keyboard player, are big-time Mets fans. My drummer and bass player are both Yankee fans, so we’re split right down the middle.
SB: How does that dynamic work?
RS: It’s actually fun. We’re outnumbered if you include our manager Jason, because he’s a big Yankee fan too. But he’s not on the road with us. There is a little bit of a rivalry; it’s not to too bad, especially since the Yankees haven’t been that succesful in the last six years. It was very, very painful losing to them in the World Series back in 2000. I’m definitely not a Yankee hater; I definitely like the Yankees. It’s a good-natured rivalry.
Read on for more about the ballclub and the band from Rob and Scott’s chat…
The Hidden Track Baseball Preview is coming to a close with two final columns. Today we feature an essay from Joel Cummins of Umphrey’s McGee about the Chicago Cubs. After we gave his band mates Ryan Stasik and Andy Farag a chance to talk about their teams, we thought it only right to get Joel’s thoughts on the Cubs. UM’s keyboard specialist took his assignment seriously, retuning an essay worthy of the Sun-Times sports section. Kudos to Cummins for taking our bait and landing multiple shots at Stasik’s Bucs. Take it away Joel…..
Spending over $300 million dollars in the offseason had to be an enjoyable endeavor for Cubs GM Jim Hendry. After a dismal finish in ‘06, a complete overhaul of the club was necessary, and (almost) completed by Opening Day with the exception of a soon-to-be-finished contract extension for perennial All-Star pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Hendry’s job wasn’t just to rise back above the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, he wants to win the division and get his club into the World Series now.
Starting at the top, new manager and former World Series champion as a player and manager, Lou Piniella brings fire and urgency to the entire club. Given the key additions of superstar Alfonso Soriano, veteran pitchers Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis, second baseman Mark DeRosa, slugger Cliff Floyd and pinch hitting specialist Daryle Ward, Piniella knows that winning will be the only acceptable result in ‘07.
Read on for the rest of Joel’s carefully crafted Cubs column…
Tea Leaf Green’s Scott Rager grew up in Southern California a true blue Dodgers fan. Before TLG’s recent Irving Plaza show, I sat down with Scotty to talk about his thoughts on the upcoming season and the progression of his band:
Bernstein: How closely are you able to follow the Dodgers from the road?
Rager: As soon as we check into our hotel, I’m definitely checking the scores. I watch them on TV when I can, but even up in San Francisco we don’t get too many games. When I’m home in LA I try to make it to a game. My father has season tickets, so I get to see a few [games] at Dodgers Stadium.
SB: Do you ever get to see any baseball games at interesting stadiums when you are on the road?
SR: Yeah, I’ve made it Wrigley twice and Jacobs Field twice. I try to hit other stadiums when I can.
SB: Some people have predicted that the Dodgers are going to win it all. What do you think of the Dodgers chances this year?
SR: I think it’s kinda up in the air. Their pitching staff is questionable, as far as staying healthy. Penny is always hurt, Schmidt is a big question mark, and Derek Lowe has hardly lived up to his contract. I think the biggest problem is going to be their [lack of] power. I like Furcal and Pierre at the top of the lineup. Those guys are pretty quick.
Read on for more of the Dual Scotty Interview on the ballclub and the band…
Johnny Damon’s been out with a strained right calf. Hideki Matsui pulled his hammy trying to beat out a grounder. Chris Ray plunked Bobby Abreu in the knee before A-Rod’s mammoth walk-off grand slam into the Stadium’s famed black seats (sorry, African-American seats). So the crowd couldn’t help but chant when it saw Miguel Cairo trotting out to left field: “We Want Bernie” and “Bring Back Bernie.”
Where have you gone Bernie Williams? A ballclub turns its lonely eyes to you. The former centerfielder has now been spotted, though it wasn’t a clubhouse visit. Bernie sat in with the Allman Brothers Band at the second-to-last Beacon show last night, ripping up Who’s Been Talkin’. That’s right, Bernie Fucking Williams.
The awesome citizen that uploaded these videos to YouTube decided to disable the embedding mechanism, so please click the following links for fantastic video footage of this classic sit-in: Part I of Who’s Been Talking and Part II of WBT, with Bernie’s lead.
Just surreal, mindfucking shit. I could not even imagine being in the crowd for that particular brand of tomfoolery. Whether you’re a diehard fan of the Yankees or a classic Yankeehater, that’s a bizarrely unreal sit-in that everyone in attendance will remember for the rest of their music-going lives. Was anyone there? Huge “Ber-nie” chants? Did he misjudge the length of some notes like fly balls? Fill us in with details.
Bring back Bernie, indeed. To the Beacon!
Umphrey’s McGee’s Andy Farag has had quite the week. On Monday the band sang the national anthem at U.S. Cellular Field for the Chicago White Sox home opener. Tuesday UM released their latest album, The Bottom Half. Tonight and tomorrow, Andy and his bandmates head to the Murat Theater in Indianapolis to record a live album.
The Hidden Track Baseball Preview moves into the late innings as we catch up with Andy to discuss his beloved White Sox, as well as this weekend’s shows:
Scott Bernstein: How was your performance at the White Sox’s season opener?
Andy Farag: It was great man. I got there like an hour earlier than we were supposed to be there so I could take it all in. We probably sang our best anthem to date. There was a flyover, so we had to time our singing. We had to sing it at the same tempo they timed it at. It was perfect: literally two seconds after we were done this jet came screaming over our heads.
SB: The outcome wasn’t so great in that game, huh? Contreras didn’t look so hot.
AF: No, he lasted two innings and just left everything over the plate. The Indians are a good offensive team and they took advantage of us, that’s for sure.
Read on for more of Scott’s interview with Andy Farag…
