Geddy Lee From Rush To Throw First Pitch At Toronto Blue Jays Home Opener
Longtime Toronto Blue Jays fan and soon-to-be Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Geddy Lee will take the mound on Tuesday (April 2) to throw the ceremonial first pitch at the Blue Jays' home opener. The Rush bassist and singer is a season ticket holder and dedicated fantasy baseball player.
In February Lee told USA Today that during intermission at Rush shows, he checks the box scores. He's a longtime fan of sabermetrics guru Bill James, and still counts old Baseball Abstracts amongst his impressive collection of memorabilia that includes signed balls and game-used items.
His fantasy baseball habit began in the '80s and verges on obsessive. "I would be embarrassed to admit how much time I spend on it," he says. "I scour the box scores and I scour websites looking for players."
His league assigns points to much more than typical leagues. Double plays, errors, passed balls and other defense statistics are kept and included to decide outcomes, he told ESPN in 2007.
Growing up in Toronto, Lee was a fan of the Detroit Tigers before the Toronto Blue Jays existed. He largely abandoned his interest in sports in the early days of his career with Rush. Later he says he watched a lot of Chicago Cubs games, as their daytime television schedule synced up nicely with the band's touring schedule and helped him to pass the time in the hotel before shows.