"Sweet Caroline", Neil Diamond's recently-disclosed-tribute to former first daughter Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, is a staple of every Boston Red Sox home game. After being played during a few seventh Inning Stretches a number of years back, the song eventually stuck.
The New York Yankees recently played "Sweet Caroline" during a recent game in honor of those affected by the Boston marathon bombings, pausing their rivalry in solidarity with the recovering Massachusetts city.
To many Sox fans' surprise at a Saturday home game against the Kansas City Royals, 72-year-old songwriter Neil Diamond arrived unannounced from Los Angeles to join the fans in the stands at singing one of "Yesterday's Songs." The musician that grew up "look[ing] out on those 'Brooklyn Roads" -- likely one of few from New York City that could get away with it-appeared wearing a black Boston Red Sox baseball cap with a "Cherry" colored logo and holding a microphone. He greeted the crowd and soon joined in with Fenway Park's recording of "Sweet Caroline," leaving silence for the crowd to loudly chant the three note mid-refrain arpeggio each time.
Neil Diamond's appearance was more than accepted by the crowd who cheered the singer and waved American flags throughout the performance. It was the farthest thing from a "Song Sung Blue" for a city that had dealt with so much the previous week. The Red Sox matchup with the Royals was delayed until Saturday because of the manhunt for now-captured suspected terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Diamond stood as the "Solitary Man" on the field, unusually sporting a gray beard. He smiled and said it was "an honor" to join Bostonians on that sunny afternoon, saying "I bring love from the whole country." Red Sox fans can only wonder when they will have another opportunity to have Neil Diamond say "'Hello' Again."
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