If you read this blog or other Phillies blogs, I’m sure you’ve seen this video before. Canadian country singer and songwriter Gord Bamford released the Christmas song “Baseball Glove” last year with a big nod to Roy Halladay.
Bamford recently made the song free to download, so if you want it click HERE.
I spoke to Bamford and Halladay last week. The story will appear on MLB.com on Christmas Eve Day, but I thought I’d give you a look at some of the things Bamford said:
Q: I guess you’re a Roy Halladay fan, right?
A: I’m a huge, huge Toronto Blue Jays fan. That’s where Roy played for many years, and when I wrote the song he was still with the Blue Jays. Once I wrote it and recorded it and was getting ready to release it, he got traded to Philly. But I’m a huge baseball fan.
Q: So what’s the story behind the song?
A: I co-wrote the song with a fellow I’ve been working with in Nashville for nine or 10 years. His name is Byron Hill. He’s discovered the likes of Gary Allan and Kathy Mattea. He’s written many, many hits. The first No. 1 hit George Strait had, a song called “Fool Hearted Memory. I wanted to do a Christmas song because I had never done one. But I wanted to do something a little bit different than a traditional Christmas song. So with my love of baseball, and at the time the Toronto Blue Jays and Halladay, it just kind of fit in there. It’s kind of a tie-in with my love of baseball, and I remember the times when I was a kid when I had a baseball glove under the tree. It was never signed by Halladay, but maybe I’ll get one of them, you know?
Q: What was it about Halladay that struck a chord with you?
A: He’s so consistent. He never gets rattled. He’s always calm and cool. As a pitcher you’ve got to have a strong head as well as a strong arm. When he was in Toronto you’d hear about his charity work. It seems like he’s just a good citizen and a good person and definitely a role model for young kids.
Q: So the song comes out and he gets traded to Philly. You’ve got to be bummed, right?
A: I was. We were like, “This will be great.” But then he gets traded. It’s still a great song, but there went our marketing plan. (laughs) I’m really trying hard to get recognized in the U.S. It’s a lot tougher than here. We thought maybe, not to compete with the mainstream country, we’ll release this baseball song across the United States. There’s lots of baseball fans there. And with Halladay in Philly, you never know. We’re happy with what has happened so far. But he’s such a class act, so it’s nice to see him go to a team with a chance of winning the World Series. It’s nice to see him go to a contender.
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Condolences to assistant general manager Benny Looper, whose mother Thelma passed away recently.
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