Jack White and the Raconteurs went to a Nats game, left to play a gig and returned to the game afterward
A seven nation army couldn't hold Jack White back from his other passion: baseball. In addition to being a world-renowned rock star, he's working to restore a Negro Leagues stadium, he looks great in throwback caps in charity games and he's represented at the Baseball Hall of Fame. His roots run deep.
Saturday was a busy day for the esteemed guitarist and his band, the Raconteurs. They had a tour date scheduled at the Anthem in Washington as part of their ongoing run promoting their latest album, "Help Us Stranger."
But they also had a date with the Nats in the hours before Washington's game against the Brewers. Prior to first pitch, the band met up with right-hander Stephen Strasburg, who comes to the mound to the sound of White's ubiquitous White Stripes anthem, "Seven Nation Army." Their photo-op was fun:
White and his colleagues Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, Patrick Keeler and Dean Fertita then enjoyed a few innings of the game from a luxury suite at Nationals Park.
But then, as life of a busy rock band would dictate, they had to dip out of the game to head to the Anthem to play the show.
Fun day, right? Meet up at the ballpark, catch a few innings, play a show. On to the next city, the next show.
Or not.
No, Jack White and his pals are baseball fans, not the type to "make an appearance" and disappear into the night. Due to the ridiculous nature of the evening's Brewers-Nats game, in which both Sean Doolittle and Josh Hader blew saves in the ninth inning, allowing the game to continue for five bonus innings, the band had time to come back to the ballpark and catch the end.
Really. Having gone to plenty of rock concerts in my day, I figure that show ended around 11 p.m. local time. Usually, that'd be much too late to go back to the ballpark. And yet ... White and Benson made it back for the 13th inning.
All of this was possible by a marathon baseball game that was ultimately won by the Brewers, 15-14, in 14 wild innings.
That's dedication to the game, folks.
