Geddy Lee, Avid Autograph Collector, Travels To Miami To Get Signatures From Ichiro And Bonds

By Joe Frisaro, MLB.com, August 13, 2016

A rock icon met up with some baseball legends on Friday afternoon at Marlins Park.

Geddy Lee, lead singer from the group Rush, made a trip to Miami with the purpose of securing some autographs.

Lee, 63, is a native of Toronto and he's a lifelong baseball fan, as well as a collector. The Rush front man was on a mission to get a couple of autographs, and he secured the signatures of Ichiro Suzuki and hitting coach Barry Bonds.

The significance is Lee has a number of autographs from players in MLB's 3,000-hit club, and 500-home run fraternity. He now adds Ichiro and Bonds.

Ichiro reached the 3,000-hit milestone last Sunday, and Bonds holds the MLB home run mark with 762. Through the years, Lee also has obtained Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker autographs, as well as a Mickey Mantle bat.

"I'm off the road now, and I'm hanging around, digging the summer," Lee said.

A friend of the singer asked why not travel to South Florida to take in a few baseball games? Plus, Lee also has a Marlins' contact, having long known, John Silverman, the team's equipment manager. Like Lee, Silverman is Canadian.

"He said, why don't we meet in Florida?" Lee said. "We can get Barry to sign a ball, and meet Ichiro, and just hang out for a few days. So it's a fun trip."

Before the Marlins faced the White Sox, Lee visited the clubhouse, meeting a number of players.

The Marlins responded by blaring on their song system, a number of Rush songs, including "Tom Sawyer" and "Limelight."

"You get a little embarrassed, but at the same time it's a little cool that there are fans in the clubhouse," Lee said. "It's a great feeling. I've been a lucky guy in my life. I've had a long career, and I've crossed a few generations now, and I'm able to exploit from my own career to meet guys I respect. It's a great kind of holiday for me."

Can you picture Giancarlo Stanton dancing to "Limelight?"