CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – He’s been a fixture at Cleveland baseball games for 50 years and his signature drum still echoes throughout Progressive Field.
Now, John Adams and that famed drum will be honored as the newest addition to the Cleveland Guardians Distinguished Hall of Fame.
The team made the announcement Wednesday afternoon that it will honor Adams by commissioning local sculptor David Deming to create a bronzed replica the drum attached to his actual Progressive Field bleacher bench.
His statue will be in Heritage Park behind the center field fence, next to the bullpens.
The Wednesday afternoon surprise at the assisted living facility where Adams has been recovering is significant. It’s the anniversary of Adams first bringing his drum to old Cleveland Municipal Stadium back on August 24, 1973. Since then, Adams has attended more than 3,700 games leading fans in support of the team with his drum.
Medical issues have kept Adams away from the ballpark for nearly two years now. In December 2020, he underwent a triple-bypass. That was followed up by a heart valve replacement and then a series of from thyroid issues.
It’s been a long road to recovery from there, but Adams has remained determined to return to the ballpark at some point.
In the meantime, the club blasts a recording of his drum when runners are in scoring position. Akron native Patrick Carney of The Black Keys assumed Adams' drumming duties for the 2021 Home Opener.
But the ballpark misses Adams, and so do the fans. Baseball is better with characters like him. He’s been going to games so long he’s nearly as much of a draw as the team itself. Ask anyone in Cleveland if they’ve got a photo with “the guy with the drum,” and they’ll scroll through their phones and stop at an image of man in a simple, white button up shirt with a ballcap, smile and bristling mustache.
Including this reporter. He had any amount time for anyone.
That’s the thing with Adams, it’s never been about him, or his drum. He takes as much an interest in the folks that come up and greet him as they do. To him, it’s the people that make the experience at the ballpark just as much as the action on the field.
Adams has a way of making everyone around him feel special.
From the moment he meets you, you’re an old friend. He’s the kind of person who will always answer when you give him a call, which is even more noticeable now that he can’t.
If his strength isn’t there, his spirit most certainly is.
From the first tap on the recording fans instantly begin clapping along. Almost as if he were never gone.
Now he never will be, with the drum immortalized in Heritage Park.
Adams becomes the 12th person to receive this honor. Mike Seghi, the club’s longtime traveling secretary was inducted into the Distinguished Hall of Fame last Friday, August 19.
The Guardians will air a John Adams tribute video during the team’s game on September 2nd against Seattle, and again on Fan Appreciation Night October 1st against Kansas City.