Guardians honor iconic fan John Adams. Fellow drummer Patrick Carney: 'He will be missed'

CLEVELAND — Bill Schubert made a beeline to Heritage Park with his wife and children when the gates at Progressive Field opened Friday afternoon before the Guardians' home opener.

Memories of the drumbeat made famous by the late John Adams were calling the family from Amherst.

Schubert and his sons, Anthony, 13, and Louis, 11, posed next to the brass-plated replica of Adams' bass drum sitting atop the iconic fan's bleacher seat. Schubert's wife, Angela, took a photograph.

“When I think of Cleveland baseball, I think of John, and I think if John's drum is beating, something good is happening on the field,” Schubert said. “It's just etched in my memory from a child through teenage years, college, adulthood. My kids got to experience it for a while, too. It equals Cleveland baseball to me.”

The Guardians lost 5-3 to the Seattle Mariners, but Cleveland's tribute to Adams in the franchise's first home game since his death in late January could not be spoiled by the final score.

Adams first drummed at a Cleveland baseball game on Aug. 24, 1973, and the Parma High School graduate continued to do so during nearly every home game through the 2019 season. He died at age 71 after battling several health problems.

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The Guardians wore “JA” patches on the front of their jerseys and marked his initials in white paint behind home plate Friday. Moments of silence featuring displays on the scoreboard were held before the game for Adams and Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry, who died on Dec. 1, 2022.

With another nod to Adams, team mascot Slider pounded a drum in the bleachers in the bottom of the first inning.

“It's a lasting legacy, and I think as human beings to be able to create one of those throughout a community, a city, a state, Major League Baseball, it's incredible truly,” Guardians ace Shane Bieber said. “I know that we as an organization will miss him.”

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Patrick Carney of The Black Keys admired John Adams and drummed with him

Akron native and The Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney said he'd been asked to hit the drum at the home opener, but a perceived scheduling conflict kept him from becoming one of the 34,821 fans the Guardians announced were in attendance. Carney had tickets to the Masters and thought he wouldn't arrive in Cleveland for first pitch.

“But, as it turned out, I could have actually made it back in time for the game, so I'm kind of kicking myself for not realizing that,” Carney told the Beacon Journal by phone.

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Carney grabbed a mallet and drummed with Adams during a game in September 2019. It ended up being the final season in which Adams drummed before the COVID-19 pandemic and his medical issues interfered. Carney said he and Adams had kept in touch afterward through text messages, and Carney handled Adams' drumming duties for the 2021 home opener.

“The amount of people that were coming up to me asking where John is, checking on him, it felt like the whole stadium went through,” Carney said. “It was pretty insane. Obviously, he will be missed, but I think he had a really good run.”

The Guardians inducted Adams, who began the drumming tradition when he was 21 years old, into their Distinguished Hall of Fame last year. He drummed in more than 3,700 games and missed an estimated 45.

Carney said there was “something very Ohio” about Adams' dedication.

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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce explained Adams helped fuel his passion for sports as kid growing up in Northeast Ohio.

“He was us in a nutshell. He's exactly who we were,” said Kelce, a Cleveland Heights High School graduate who threw out the ceremonial first pitch Friday. “All those runs in the '90s where we sold this place out, those early 2000s moments, man, he was the heartbeat for a lot of us here in the Cleveland area.”

Cleveland's players had similar feelings.

Cleveland baseball legend Sandy Alomar Jr. says John Adams motivated the players with his drumbeat

Guardians first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., a legendary catcher on the 1995 and 1997 World Series teams, used the word “motivator” to describe the soundtrack Adams provided.

“We felt like if he wasn't there, it would be something odd,” Alomar Jr. said. “We always heard that beat. Ten thousand people in the stands, 25,000, 30,000 — he was always there. He was part of the fabric of the team.”

Cleveland began playing an audio recording of Adams' drum through the stadium's public address system in 2020. It has continued, with the Guardians adding a scoreboard graphic of a virtual drum that beats with the audio.

“The commitment he gave, the loyalty he had, it's something you cherish, and it's something that I know has always been a part of this organization and the tradition here,” Guardians starting pitcher Zach Plesac said. “To hear the live drum actually beating is just a different level of energy than listening to it on the intercom.”

Although the replica drum and bleacher seat were installed in Heritage Park this past August after the Guardians visited and honored Adams in a nursing home, a plaque outlining his legacy was added this past offseason.

Another new plaque is affixed to a wall at the top of section 182, where he sat in the left-field bleachers.

“He was a fixture from the old ballpark to come over here,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said.

Indeed, Carney's first memory of Cleveland Stadium includes a view obstructed by beams and Adams drumming.

“He had played drums in high school, and he just for some reason just grabbed his bass drum and a mallet and took it to the stadium back when the team was trash,” Carney said. “The bleachers were open, and he just started hitting the drum and people loved it.”

Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti reflected on his conversations over the years with Adams and how much he'll miss him. The Guardians will wear the “JA” patch again on Aug. 24, the 50th anniversary of Adams' drumming debut. Francona and Antonetti acknowledged how rare it is for a professional sports team to honor a fan to this extent.

“That speaks to John's unique place in our history,” Antonetti added.

And now the Schubert family can be reminded of Adams by looking at their photo from the 2023 home opener.

“He's getting the recognition that he deserves for all the good times and memories that he brought to the fan base,” Bill Schubert said.

Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians, Black Keys' Patrick Carney remember John Adams