Ken Casey: The MLB Fan Cave Interview
Since Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon adopted it as his walk-on song, “I’m Shipping up to Boston” by the Dropkick Murphys has become one of the most recognized anthems in sports.
Nobody could be more surprised or happy about this than life-long Red Sox fan Ken Casey, one of the band’s founders. He recently stopped by the MLB Fan Cave and talked about what it’s like to be so closely associated with the teams he grew up loving and preparing to play two September shows at Fenway Park.
Q: How does your head feel after being hit by a Paplebon tomato?
A: I think I might have concussion symptoms but I’m always dizzy and irritable, so it’s tough to tell. A 90 MPH tomato at 30 feet is legitimate.
Q: If there was one MLB player who could be in your band, who would you want that player to be?
A: I’d have to say David Ortiz. I don’t know what the heck he’d do for us. Every time he sees me he says, “Hey, the rock n’ roll guy!” So we’d find something for him. We’ve got enough instruments.
Q: How do you feel about Paplebon using your song as his walk up music?
A: It’s awesome. To have your song played in a key moment of the game in your hometown is awesome. It’s an awesome thing to be involved in and it’s actually done a lot for the band. For people to be exposed to that, not only at the park, but on TV. He’s a great guy and we’re good friends.
Q: How does it feel to be so connected with Boston sports?
A: It’s been a natural thing. We’re legitimate die-hard fans. To be involved with the teams, most specifically the Bruins and the Red Sox the way we have been, it’s just been so cool. You know, growing up a Red Sox fan with the old ownership, the thought of a rock band being involved with the team was not reality, you know? Now to be here for the past seven years and to be involved with the team has been awesome.
Q: You’re about to play two shows at Fenway.
A: It’s a total dream come true. We sold 18,000 tickets in 45 minutes and that, you can tell, is a reaction of the combination of us playing there and being a special place. I mean, who doesn’t want to go to Fenway, you know? And to see a concert there, it’s cool to do.
Q: Will Fenway be one of the larger venues you’ve performed at?
A: Yeah, we started off doing punk rock shows. We’ve done minor league hockey venues, six, seven thousand seaters. We did the minor league ballparks, too. That was fun. This will be kind of the call up to the majors.
Q: If you played baseball professionally, which position would you want to be?
A: Well, I’m a lefty, so I always played outfield and first base and I pitched. And of the three of those, I liked pitching the best. I think I’d be a closer, you know, the precious spot!
Q: What song would be your walk out music?
A: Well I certainly couldn’t pick our own song! I would pick “TNT" by AC/DC.
Q: What’s your favorite venue on the west coast?
A: I like the Palladium in LA, a lot of history, a lot of great shows have happened there.
Q: How about your go-to pre show meal?
A: Peanut butter and banana.
Q: Do any performances stick out to you above the others? You mentioned the ’04, ’07 Red Sox.
A: I mean playing in the ’07 victory parade is definitely a real highlight. We played at the ’04 fan rally at Fenway and we played on the dugout. That was pretty awesome, you know, to look down from your mic and just see the dugout. We have a little tradition where the last song, the kids all jump up on the stage and join us, and they jumped on the dugout stage. That’s all old cement. There’s only one column in the middle and I’m thinking “This thing’s gonna go down, and when the Playoffs start and the Red Sox are in some makeshift dugout." But it didn’t… as much as I was jumping up and down, it didn’t quite break.