Toronto Blue Jays Share Spring Training Tribute to Rush's Neil Peart

The late drummer was a favourite of catcher Caleb Joseph
Toronto Blue Jays Share Spring Training Tribute to Rush's Neil Peart
By Calum Slingerland
Published Feb 21, 2020
Musicians and listeners alike were shaken by the passing of Rush's Neil Peart in January, and the Toronto Blue Jays have served up a perfect tribute to the band's late drummer and primary lyricist at spring training in Florida.

The lone Canadian MLB franchise shared a video of catcher Caleb Joseph taking a crack at Rush's "The Spirit of Radio" on an bucket drum setup cobbled together from training gear. You can watch the clip below.

It wasn't long before the team cut their warmup exercises to watch Joseph play through the song's final blistering fill and reggae-tinged outro, marvelling at both his accuracy and technique behind the makeshift kit.

"[I've been] playing drums, I'd say, 10 years," Joseph told theScore Thursday (February 20) in Florida. "[Been] playing the air drums for the past, probably, 25."

Joseph told the site that his love for Rush began upon hearing the band's "Vital Signs" in his uncle's Honda Accord at age 12. 

"I just thought it was the most amazing song of all time," he recalled. "Then I was scooped in and, like many other Rush fans, you just kind of can't escape it."

Joseph had tweeted his own tribute to the drummer's January passing, sharing that Rush was his favourite band, and that Peart was his favourite beatkeeper.

"The reason I even picked up drum sticks was because of Neil," he wrote. "Just absolutely crushed by this news. Always held hope for one more tour."

The catcher had seen Rush perform "around eight times" over the band's storied career and formed a relationship with vocalist/bassist and noted baseball aficionado Geddy Lee while a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

Primus are set to pay tribute to Rush on tour this summer. The band recently lifted the curtain on an anniversary edition of Permanent Waves.