August 9, 2011; San Francisco, CA, USA; Grateful Dead band members Phil Lesh (left) and Bob Weir (center) sing the national anthem with San Francisco Giants third base coach Tim Flannery (right) before the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports
Grateful Dead concerts are like baseball games: no two are ever alike. The plays are always different, and there's always fresh hope. Sometimes the game's an all-timer even though individual performances are sloppy; sometimes everybody plays great but the team loses anyway. -- David Gans, from his book "The Official Book of the Deadheads"
Sure, NBA legend Bill Walton might be the most recognizable Deadhead of them all, but the Grateful Dead, America's most legendary touring band of all-time, was always most compared to the great game of baseball for even more reasons than listed above.
The band used to typically park its traveling tent in cities for three nights at a time, a three-game series if you will, with its diehard fans, just like baseball's, keeping score of every song, hit and error.
The Dead's original four members finished up a three nights of farewell shows in Chicago over the July 4 weekend to celebrate the band's 50th anniversary, and now the St. Louis Cardinals are doing their part to make sure the music never stops with Grateful Dead Night at Busch Stadium on Sept. 2.
The Cardinals have created an awesome "Grateful Dead in St. Louis" T-shirt that lists every St. Louis show and venue to go with Dead-themed tickets to that night's game against the Washington Nationals.
The Grateful Dead played many legendary shows in St. Louis and have a legion of fans in the city. As far as the Cardinals honoring the boys, well the Dead's late, great guitarist and soulful vocalist Jerry Garcia will almost certainly be smiling down while singing, "I'd rather be with you!"
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