Never leave a ballgame early

This is why we never leave a ballgame early. My good friend Ted drove out from Illinois for a visit last weekend. Ted is one of the original Iron Undershorts Boys — guys who drive long distances without stopping much just to do things that most women would consider idiotic. In this instance, Ted was driving 881 over 14 hours and 8 minutes just to attend a Steve Forbert concert as part of the Bryn Mawr Concert Series presented by the Lower Merion Parks and Recreation department. Ted is a big fan of Steve Forbert, a singer songwriter once hailed by critics as the “new Bob Dylan.” Ted is also a big fan of Bob Dylan, owns every album of the guy has ever made and has seen him numerous times in concert, so it comes as no surprise that he would drive straight through halfway across the country to see a guy from the Dylan fold. So we had a perfect plan: That morning, Saturday, June 23, Ted and I worked the Montgomery Media table at the Souderton 125th anniversary parade and block party. I had tickets for the Phillies that afternoon and the ballclub accommodated us by having the start time at 4:05 p.m. The Forbert show in Bryn Mawr was scheduled for 7 p.m. that evening, but there was an opening act so we figured Forbert wouldn’t actually go on until closer to 8 p.m. We could do all three activities. There was no problem getting from Souderton to Philly for the first pitch. And with a relatively cleanly played game with good pitching, that should have given us enough time to get from the ballpark in South Philly to the gazebo in Bryn Mawr. The flaw in that plan was that this year’s Phillies don’t often play clean games that feature good pitching for nine innings. At least not as often as we fans are used to experiencing for the past four or five years. So when it got to be around 6:30 p.m. and the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays were only in the sixth inning — with the good guys leading 5-3 — we had to violate one of my longtime rules about leaving a ballgame early if we were going to get to Bryn Mawr on time. After all, my friend is a Cardinals fan and he hadn’t driven 14 hours and 8 minutes in one day to see the Phillies blow another lead late in the game. He had trekked the 881 miles to see Steve Forbert sing. As it turned out, Phillies closer Jonathan Paplebon did indeed blow that two-run lead in the ninth inning just as we were sitting down in our lawn chairs for the concert in Bryn Mawr. It was now 5-5 going into the bottom of the ninth inning. Now I like these community concerts and I like Steve Forbert’s music. But what happened next made it difficult for me not to squirm in my lawn chair. I learned by checking my Twitter account that the first Phillies batter in the bottom of the ninth — the Hall of Fame bound Jim Thome — hit a walk-off home run to win the ballgame! And instead of me sitting in my regular seat at the ballpark watching that excitement, I was in a lawn chair in Bryn Mawr watching Steve Forbert tune his guitar. Argh. Not only that, but it was Thome’s 13th walk-off home run of his career, the most ever by any other player. With that home run, Thome passed the likes of Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musical, Jimmie Foxx and Frank Robinson — all Hall of Famers — in career walk-off home runs. No disrespect to Mr. Forbert, but given the choice of showing up late for his concert or staying in the ballpark for a walk-off home run by one of my favorite players, I’m going to choose the latter. But it was a great show and my friend got to see the artist he drove all those miles to see. It was a plan that nearly worked. In the end though, it was me singing a different tune. Having not seen the exciting and historic Thome home run, I was singing the blues.

The special moments of the DIMU party

Life’s special moments are sometimes few and far between. But when they happen and one is able to share them with family and friends, they become even more special. I was lucky. I got an entire evening of special moments at the launch party June 12 for my new book, “Dancing in My Underwear: The Soundtrack of My Life,” (Soundtrack.EduPublisher.com). Despite the rainy weather, we had a big crowd, sold a lot of books and got a wonderful performance from Philadelphia singer-songwriter Dan May (there’s a chapter about him in the book) and his band mate, the ridiculously talented guitarist and singer Tom Hampton. I got to sit on stage with the band (what a unique perspective that is for a show), telling stories from the book and leading into the songs. The set list included: “Never My Love” by The Association; “China Grove” by the Doobie Brothers; “An Old Fashioned Love Song” by Three Dog Night; “Sister Golden Hair” by America; two Dan May tunes, “That One Song” and “Paradise”; “That’s Why They Call it The Blues” by Elton John; and the big finish, “Surfer Girl” by the Beach Boys. The even bigger finish was song No. 9 and the final one of the evening, “Dancing in My Underwear,” an original Dan May song that he wrote for the occasion. I heard it for the first time with everyone else that night. Wow. What else can one say when someone as talented as Dan writes a song about my book? What a wonderful gift to receive from a friend. The whole evening was a personal highlight-reel. But “Surfer Girl” was a little more special for me. There is a chapter in the book that details why (in fact, the book has a heavy Beach Boys influence with five different chapters), but the nickel version is that I associate that song with the birth of my oldest daughter, Kiley. She was a preemie, weighing only a little more than 2 lbs. at birth. There was a question of whether she would survive. I turned to Beach Boys music to help me get through that difficult time and all turned out right. She is healthy and happy. When Dan and Tom broke into “Surfer Girl” after my lead-in story, I got up and moved to the side of the stage where I met Kiley. I had not given her a heads up before the show that “Surfer Girl” was going to be performed, but she must have sensed it because she didn’t hesitate to join me on stage for a father-daughter dance. The picture you see here is me wiping away tears from Kiley’s face as we get near the end of the song. It couldn’t have been any more special. I got so lucky, and there are a lot of people to thank. The Blonde Accountant put together a wonderful event and has shown so much love and support for this book project. I am truly blessed to be her husband; my daughters, Kiley (along with husband Mat) and Lexi have always been the lights of my life and I’m glad I got a chance to share it all with them; my mom was here from Illinois and I’m so thankful she got to see everything; my stepchildren, Kaitie and Kevin, were a tremendous help during the party and handled themselves like the fine young adults that they are becoming; my in-laws, Walt and Anne, drove back from their vacation at the shore so they could be part of it; Dan May and Tom Hampton are two of the most talented musicians and nicest guys and they really stepped up by allowing me to share the stage with them and add the soundtrack to my words; the folks at the Ambler Theater were tremendous; and my editor, Frank Quattrone, who always had faith in the book project, has been a stalwart supporter from the first chapter. To each and every one of you who came out, I can’t thank you enough. I hope you enjoy the book.