Another Pearl Jam Sport Connection

I guess we now know how Mike McCready got his recent gig playing the national anthem at Safeco Field.

Eddie Vedder was in Seattle recently for one of your starts, as were others from Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. How did you get to know those guys?

Randy Johnson: My first year here was 1989, so that was the beginning of the grunge movement, as it was labeled, with all the underground bands making their mark on Seattle. Whether it was Pearl Jam or Soundgarden or Tad Doyle in the band TAD, Mudhoney -- a lot of those bands really put Seattle on the map, along with Microsoft and Starbucks. A lot of those musicians are really into sports, and I'm really into music, so it was a great mix. I was starting off at a great time in Seattle when these bands were starting off. I was going to see them play their shows, and they came to some baseball games and it meshed. We met, and I got to know some of the guys. I've known those guys for 20-some years now. We still stay in touch; in fact, as you said, they were at the game last night and I'm hooking up with them after the game tonight to go see a show. I feel very fortunate to not only have played the game at the right time here in Seattle but also to have met a lot of very interesting people here that I can call friends. It was a great time in Seattle. Along with all the great stuff happening on the field there was a lot of things off the field that were just as interesting. I'm very fortunate to have been part of that.

Did you see them at the Crocodile and places like that?

I saw them at the Off Ramp and the Paramount and little places like that. I was just there when they were playing small little clubs and was there with Soundgarden when they were playing Days on the Green with Metallica and big bands like that. We have stuff in common. They travel the world, but there are similar parallels. You travel and you have a fan base and it's pretty cool.