The other day here, I linked to a video of Neil Diamond leading a very happy audience in the singing of his song, "Sweet Caroline." This brought a message from my buddy Tom Galloway…
Oddly enough, nine years ago yesterday (4/20/13), Diamond did what was probably his most significant "Sweet Caroline" performance.
As you probably recall, a few days before that date was the bombing of the Boston Marathon. As you probably don't know, it's long been a tradition for a recording of "Sweet Caroline" to be played and sung along with during the eighth inning of Boston Red Sox home games. The 20th was the first Sox home game to be played post-bombing.
Before the game, Sox star David Ortiz, whose nickname was Big Papi, said a few words that completely guaranteed he'd never again have to pay for a drink or meal in Boston, ending with "This is our fucking city, and nobody gonna dictate our freedom. Stay strong, thank you." (The head of the FCC promptly tweeted "David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today's Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston"; no fines or anything for saying the f-word during a widely televised event)
But then came the 8th inning. This guy in a Red Sox cap walks out on the field with a microphone. And is introduced as Neil Diamond.
He proceeded to sing along with the usual recording. The Sox had no idea he was coming; he'd spontaneously decided the night before in L.A. to fly to Boston on his own and make the offer. About an hour before the game started, the Sox office got a phone call saying something like "Hi, this is Neil Diamond. I'm right outside Fenway Park and wondered if I could sing 'Sweet Caroline' during the game?"
The bombing itself, and subsequent events including the killing of MIT Police officer Sean Collier by the bombers, were of course horrible. However, as a former Bostonian, I was and am tremendously proud of how the city, area, and its people reacted and responded to it. Even the request by the police that during the final dragnet of an otherwise locked down suburb that caught the bombers that the local Dunkin Donuts stay open for them. That was just so Boston all around.
I had never heard that story but thanks, Tom. (And Tom also sent me this link to Diamond's own account of the event which led me to the video of it I've embedded below.)
