CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) - With longtime Indians drummer John Adams unavailable for the start of the Cleveland Indians' 2021 home slate, Akron native and drummer for The Black Keys Patrick Carney will be filling in at the bleachers.
"It's big shoes to fill in today," Carney said on Monday's episode of Baskin and Phelps on 92.3 The Fan. "But I'm just excited to get to watch the game and be there to represent John, who I talked to last week. He sounds good, he's a fighter...and I hope to see him back in his spot in the bleachers soon."
Carney, 40, will pinch-drum for Adams, 69, the latter of whom is in recovery from heart surgery and will miss his first Indians home opener in 48 years.
Carney described the opportunity presented when the news was released of Adams' inavailability.
"I put myself in John's shoes, after forty-eight years of not being able to do it, and at the same time...I know that that's his thing, he doesn't want, like, a replacement...I wanted to show to John how important it is - my whole life, he's been a fixture of Indians games, and this is the first Opening Day he wouldn't make it, so...you know, I wanted to show him how important it is, what he's done."
For Carney, this will be an extended return to an opportunity he gained alongside Adams a few seasons back.
"I was lucky enough to get to play up there with him for an inning in 2019. For my dad's seventieth birthday, we went up there. I got to meet John, and hang out with him."
Carney also joked with Baskin and Phelps that he may be a key factor in helping the Indians win their first World Series in 73 years.
"I will say this, I threw out the Opening Day pitch in 2016, and the Indians did go to the World Series. so there might be something...just me being there Opening Day...maybe there's something, I don't know."
Carney also talked about his past experiences with the Tribe, including their heart-breaking loss to the Florida Marlins in the 1997 Fall Classic - which, according to Carney, kept him from keeping up with the game for a while.
"I watched the Indians lose to the Marlins in '97, and I actually...stopped watching and listening to baseball for about ten years after that, I was so upset...but then I came back with a passion."
That passion stemmed from Carney's childhood of hearing his dad listening (and something yelling) at Tribe games, according to the drummer.
"I remember being a little kid, watching my dad scream at the radio, when like [former Indians outfielder] Jay Bell would drop the ball or something. I remember one day, after a Little League game in the late eighties, I told my dad 'Oh, I'm probably as good of a baseball player as Jay Bell.'
"My dad stopped the car, and he looked at me, and he said 'Patrick, there's no way you're as good as Jay Bell. He's a professional baseball player. You're eleven years old'."
Carney has been with the Black Keys since their foundation in 2001. In their run together, the band has produced nine albums, two EPs, and 20 singles, including hits like "Tighten Up" and "Lonely Boy."
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