Ever since he was a boy in Toronto, Geddy Lee has loved baseball. That love has persisted across the decades, even as his band, Rush, became one of the biggest acts in the world. Lee has even written a book on his baseball memorabilia, 72 Stories, published earlier this year. Rush recently announced a reunion tour, dedicated to the memory of Neil Peart, but right at this moment, Lee’s mind is on something else: his beloved Toronto Blue Jays, who are about to take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Six of the World Series.
Rolling Stone caught up with Lee, shortly before he headed out to the game, to talk about this year’s Blue Jays, stadium music, and the 2026 Rush tour.
Game Six is tonight. How are you feeling, especially with Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitching for L.A.?
Well, I think they have their work cut out for them. There’s a lot of people that are hoping the Jays can win it tonight, of course. And Game Six is kind of a magical thing for Blue Jays fans because we won two World Series’ Game Six, in ’92 and ’93. But I don’t think we can underestimate how terrific Yamamoto is. He’s shut us down before. He’s had two exceptional outings in the playoffs, back to back. So they’re going to have to get a bit lucky to beat Yamamoto tonight. I think they stand a chance. Of course, there’s always a chance. Baseball is completely unpredictable, but they’ve got to have their hitting shoes on right from the first pitch if they hope to win.
What do you like about the current Blue Jays team?
Well, first of all, let me say that in the offseason, I was very down on my expectations for this season for the Blue Jays. They were coming off of a very tough year, were not hitting the ball with authority. They were ranked the lowest-hitting team in the major leagues last year. And they brought in the miracle worker, this gentleman named [David] Popkins [the Jays’ hitting coach] that was available. He used to be the head coach for the Twins.
And he got to work and worked some magic. So there’s so many things to like about the way this team has thrived under his tutelage. And right from one through nine in this batting order, there are such a mix of stars, like Vladdy [Vladimir Guerrero Jr.] and George Springer and Bo Bichette, of course. But all the other players can do damage at any given time. So for a guy who started the season off with a kind of negative outlook, I am happy to eat crow. I did not see this coming. And well done. To think that they’re one game away from the World Series championship was inconceivable for me. And I’m delighted, as are most of my baseball nerdy friends.
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Speaking of baseball friends, you were spotted at a game with Chad Smith. What did you guys talk about? Do you guys have a friendly rivalry?
No. He’s from Detroit, so the Tigers are his team. He’s such a great cat. He didn’t want any bad vibes. And so he was reading alongside of me. And we were sitting in, of course, a little section of Dodger fans. They were all very nice to us. I was upset [the Jays lost in an 18-inning classic]. And that was quite a game. I think you saw just about every possible twist and turn in that game. Unfortunately, for Blue Jays fans, because they had about three chances to win that game, we weren’t able to seal the deal.
But I think it benefited us the next game because [Shohei] Ohtani, who had been on base nine times in that 18 inning-game, looked clearly tired for his start the next game. So I think in a way, even though we lost the game and it was kind of a heartbreaker, that game sort of helped us win the next one.
Who are your favorite players on this Blue Jays team?
I love George Springer. I know the L.A. fans don’t like him, and I understand why. The sign-stealing scandal of the Houston Astros [who beat the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series]. I was not happy with that scandal myself. But now that we’ve seen George for the last few years, and he really struggled last year, to see what a tremendous rebound he’s had has been very exciting. Of course, you can’t help but love Vladdy.
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But I don’t think I have a favorite player on this team, really. I like Ernie Clement a lot. He’s one of these guys that has been around and underappreciated, and he comes up in the clutch so many times. You’ve got a kid, like Nathan Lukes, who spent 10 years in the minors, 31 years old, and now he’s playing in the World Series, and he’s playing well. So that’s the kind of team. Alejandro Kirk, the catcher, just very surprising amount of power from an unusual body shape, I guess you could say. And he’s been terrific. He’s been terrific all year. It’s hard to pick a favorite on this team because there’s so many of these players that are likable. And they really do root for each other. It’s just the team that has earned the love of Toronto fans.
What does it mean to have a Canadian team on such a big stage right now, especially with the rhetoric about Canada coming from the White House?
Well, I’m not going to bring that crap into baseball. I’m a baseball lover, and baseball is an escape from the woes of everyday life. Now, I have a good life, but many people work hard and they look for their sports to carry them into a different world where they can escape from the day-to-day problems. And so for me, baseball is a wonderful place to leave everything, all the mess that the world is in, behind, and just watch these incredibly talented people exceed and do their jobs. So that’s the purity, that’s the beauty of baseball.
You’ve gotten to go to games with your grandson this year. That must’ve been really special for you.
Yeah. We’ve been going for a few years together now. He’s 11 and he loves baseball. He plays baseball. I like to think that I introduced my son to baseball. And he loved the game and we used to go to games together. To see the three of us sometimes at a game together, three generations of baseball nuts, is very great. And I love spending time with my grandson. He’s just a wonderful kid, and he just so enjoys the game, that it’s a special experience for me.
When did you fall in love with baseball?
Well, I liked baseball when I was a kid. And when I was really young, I used to watch a lot of games on TV here in Toronto. We got mostly the American games here, and we got to see the Yankees-Tigers rivalry back in the Sixties. But I tried out for a baseball team when I was a kid and didn’t make it. So I guess I was one of those frustrated, failed athletes. I turned to music and I spent most of my time woodshedding on my bass guitar. And that served me well.
But I think it was in the mid- to late-Seventies that I started to watch baseball on TV while I was on the road with Rush and we were touring all through the States in the Midwest. One thing you could be guaranteed of when you were having your breakfast at two in the afternoon was there would be a game on television from either Chicago or Atlanta. So I fell in love with the game again through that, and I sort of became obsessed with the game again.
Do you have some favorite Blue Jay memories from over the years?
Oh, yeah, of course. When they won the World Series in 1992, I went to Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium with my brother. We flew in for Game Six and got to watch them win the very first World Series championship that the Blue Jays were able to snag. And it was a fantastic experience after the celebration and all that. And then of course, again in ’93, them winning the World Series. I was there for Joe Carter’s famous home run. But there have been many, many baseball highlights for me over the years. And I’m a person that gets stuck with certain things, and my baseball obsession has served me well.
Are you planning to attend the game tonight?
I am going tonight. Yeah. I’m going with my son. And if there is the need for a seventh game, I’ll be there tomorrow night, too.
Did you stay up for all 18 innings of the second game?
I saw that 18-innings game. Yeah, that’s the game I went to with Chad Smith. And I had a video session the next day. And so we were looking at our watches going, “Can we really stay till the bitter end?” After the Jays failed to score in the 18th inning, we stood up and started to walk away from our seats. And when we looked back, Freddie Freeman hit that home run to end the game. So I guess we got to see the end.
That’s real dedication.
I don’t know if it’s dedication or if it’s madness.
There’s been some talk on social media of the organist at Dodger Stadium playing a wacky mix of music. Do you have any feelings on that?
Well, at our stadium in Toronto, we get a lot of music clips. I think it’s the thing they do now in all these stadiums, is in between pitches, they play these short clips. And I always find it interferes with the natural drama that occurs between pitcher and batter. The face-down between a pitcher and a batter, especially in a World Series, has enough tension without needing to be manipulated by outside music. But I will say that it drives me crazy in Toronto when they do it, and I notice they do the same thing in Dodger Stadium. But at least in Dodger Stadium, there’s a lot more rock & roll, a lot more hard rock that they play. So that at least is a positive for me.
I would think that at the Rogers Centre, they played Rush all the time. No?
No. No. We sneak in there once in a while.
I have to ask a few questions about the tour. There are Rush-themed carved pumpkins that have been everywhere on social media. Fans are saying that you’re going to play “Witch Hunt” on this tour. Have you heard that?
Well, I haven’t heard that, but I have heard now. I don’t really want to give our set list away because we are learning at the moment our set list contains over 38 songs, because we plan on changing the set every night. There will be a large percentage of songs that we will switch between nights. So if you come to say four shows in Toronto, you’re going to hear four different sets. That’s going to include a lot of songs, obviously. They are obviously the big favorites that you sort of have to have in the set list every night. But we really want to keep the set fresh. And right now, I’m working on five different sets for the shows. So we’re going to move things around quite a bit and have a lot of fun, and hopefully that’ll keep Alex and I fresh.
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This tour has been embraced so fervently by fans. What does that mean to you?
Honestly, it’s blown me away. I was shocked at the overwhelming response and the welcoming response from fans, especially the way they have welcomed [drummer] Anika Nilles into the Rush family. It’s a tough thing for Rush fans. They know us as Alex [Lifeson], myself, and of course, Neil Peart. And it was a very difficult decision for us to make to come back.
It’s been 11 years since we’ve even contemplated the tour. So there was a lot of emotional back and forth. There was a lot of work. There was a lot of gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands. But then we finally decided that life is short, we love this material, we haven’t played these songs in a long time, and we know how many fans want to hear these songs. So it became a joyous decision in the end. We hope to carry that atmosphere through on this tour, making it a celebration of our past. And I hope fans just get what they’re after when they come to see us.
