So I missed the game last night, instead deciding to see Springsteen at the Comcast Center (forever “Great Woods” to me, much like the Blue Jays will always play in “SkyDome” and every ATM is a “Baybank machine”) for the umpteenth time. Yes, I’m old enough that I’m allowed to use words like “umpteenth.” My legs are tired from standing and doing my “old white guy at the concert” bop, my hands are aching from clapping, and I’m not sure how many vocal cords the average human has, but I have a few less than I did before the show.

The guy just rocks. And not just him, but his whole band. If you haven’t seen him perform or think you don’t like his music, please, go see him live. He has transformed himself from a straight-out, 4-hour rocker, into an entertainer. The entire band just looks like they are having fun, like there is no place they’d rather be. At one point, with the entire crowd singing along to the chorus of “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” Springsteen turned to the camera so everyone could see him on the big screen, and shhhh’ed the crowd. Immediately: silence. You could hear a freakin’ pin drop. He held his microphone out to a little kid in the crowd, who belted out the chorus solo…and the crowd went wild. He later brought out the dude from Dropkick Murphys to jam with him.

Anyway…I had asked my man Red to text me updates during the game. I got a “1-0 Yanks. Jeter home run” followed later by a “tied 2-2.” At 9:04 I got the “4-2 Yanks” text just as Bruce was disappointing me mightily by playing “I’m Going Down” which to me, sits at the bottom of the barrel with “Pink Cadillac” and “Glory Days” (which he unfortunately played later).

At 9:02 I got “5-2 Yanks not looking good” just as the Boss busted into the aforementioned “Waitin’ on a Sunny Day.” At 9:56 I got “7-3 Yanks” and began to think maybe, as Bruce started “The Rising” that things could still turn around. With songs like that and “Prove it all Night” maybe the music would set the tone for a comeback. At 9:58 Red texted “Beckett is a pinata” and he would text no more, undoubtedly succumbing to whatever brand of cheap booze he was making his best friend last night.

So I didn’t see the game…but I guess I didn’t really miss the game.

And I leave you with a Springsteen gem you might not know. He and the E Street Band played back-up on an album back around 1981 featuring Gary US Bonds. Check out “Jole Blon.”