Copyright thestar
Geddy Lee is both a rock god and faithful devotee to the religion of baseball. He has a new book out “72 Stories” that captures some of the baseball memorabilia he collected over the years and insights into his beloved game. As we all watch the Blue Jays battle the Los Angeles Dodgers in a World Series for the ages, he shared a few with the Toronto Star’s Vinay Menon. On why the Blue Jays have captivated the city: It’s a good question and I’ve been thinking about it. I think what galvanized fans to this team is the lesser lights — and I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense. There have been different guys come through on different nights. Unexpected heroes, so to speak. Nathan Lukes, one night. The next night, Myles Straw hits the winning clutch hit. You know, Tyler Heineman. Here’s a guy who was a journeyman catcher and when (Alejandro) Kirk was slumping or not playing, he was incredible. And of course, the big guns. You know, George Springer having his best year yet at, what, 36? On how the 2025 squad stacks up to the 1992 and 1993 championship teams: Well, the ‘93 squad in particular was stacked with superstars. The ‘92 team had a few, shall we say, journeyman types that really came through. Guys like Pat Borders, of course, who is the most humble ballplayer I’ve ever met … So what’s amazing about this (2025) team is something like 15 of these guys had been in the minors at some point this year. And it’s a team that came together out of disappointment and is dotted with guys who do not have big contracts. They were not household names that everybody was aware of and their performances have been so clutch. And they seem to take turns at shining. On his love of baseball: First of all, there’s so much time to mull it over. It’s a slow game. It’s a slow burn. And there’s something in almost every ball game that I have never seen before. Like, for example, that that playoff game the other day where Josh Naylor (Seattle Mariners) jumped into the air, flipped around and took that double play ball off his helmet. I’ve never seen that before! There’s nuances that happen in every game that make it different from all the others. So I became addicted to the grace of a double play, the glide of someone sliding into second base, the sheer power of sitting close to the catcher and feeling that 95 mile an hour fastball barely grazing a batter’s body. And that’s ferocity. The game has a combination of grace and ferocity. And at times it is simply balletic. And I just can’t think of another sport that encumbers all of that. On his new book “72 Stories”: I started this book a couple of years ago when I had made the decision — the difficult decision — to sell many things from my collection. So before letting those things leave my house, a friend of mine said, ‘You know, you should write some of your favourite stories from these items.’ Because I’m always telling stories about this item or that item as a kind of keepsake. So I originally did it as a memory book. I started just writing down items I had and it totaled up to 72 of my favorite stories. So it was just a random number. They were the most interesting stories to me. And I originally was just going to privately publish it on our website, for fun. And our publisher, HarperCollins, who have published both my other books, got sent a copy and they just loved it. And they said, ‘Let us release this wider. I think baseball fans would really dig it.’” Here’s just one of those entries, titled “1992 World Series”: This simple ball represents the most glorious moment in my life as a Blue Jay fan, the game that won Toronto its first world championship. In 1992, I went with my brother to the Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, where we sat in the section reserved for friends and family members of the players and coaches, and we were this little group of Blue Jays fans in a sea of foam tomahawks. (Those were the bad old politically incorrect days, when Braves fans did the “Tomahawk chop” to the melody that used to signal Indians in old Hollywood westerns. I can see why that sort of thing offends a lot of people! I guess the argument some fans would make is that a brave is a noble person, a fierce warrior, but if a thing is offensive to a large group of people — and especially the first peoples of your country — I think you should give them a little credence and stop offending them. Cleveland changed its name from the Indians to the Guardians, but the Braves are still the Braves … while over in the world of football even the Washington team finally relented and dropped that offensive “Redskins” moniker.) So anyway, we were very warmly treated — not like in Britain where if you’re wearing the wrong colours at a football match you’re taking your life into your own hands. We were welcomed and warmly taunted, told in no uncertain terms that we were going to lose. Yet we did not lose. It was an incredible game, its hero the great Dave Winfield, who laced the double that drove in the winning run. My brother and I were ecstatic. I remember counting out the outs towards the end of the game … Only two more outs … Only one more out to a World Championship … It was the most exciting moment of my life as a sports fan. It’s the ultimate reward for being a fan: you’re floating on air with the knowledge that this win can never be taken away from you. After the game, we had the great privilege of partying with the Jays at their hotel. At the party I went up to Winfield and said, “I’m so happy to meet you. Congratulations! I think I was the happiest person in the stadium when you hit that double.” To which he replied, “No, I was the happiest person in the stadium.” All I could do was chuckle with embarrassment and say, “Oh, yeah … Right.” Years later — not until 2013, in fact — I came across a ball from that very game. It’s not signed by any of the players, just by the umpire crew chief, John Schulock. But it’s one that I will keep alongside the rest of my Blue Jays memorabilia for my grandson (and, hopefully, future generations of my family’s Jays fans) to revel in.” From the book “72 Stories” by Geddy Lee Copyright 2025 by Geddy Lee. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
