Ken Casey of the Dropkick Murphys - Curse Buster (by Jay Hale)

I remember sitting in the front row of the bleachers at Fenway Park on a sunny October afternoon praying that the Red Sox would stave off elimination for a second straight day in the 2003 American League Divisional Series. Trot Nixon’s walk-off home run against Oakland the night before was an image — and a radio broadcast — I will never forget. Could lightning strike twice? I eagerly anticipated that answer. Squinting toward home plate in a vain attempt to locate who would be performing the National Anthem, I was surprised to hear over the PA system that former local heroes, Boston, would have the honor this day. Not only that, they were playing on the roof above the right field grandstands. As they riffed through “The Star Spangled Banner” and into their trademark “Rock and Roll Band,” I thought this would be a lot cooler if a current band was up there rocking out; someone I dug. That year, the Street Dogs kicked around the idea of presenting their cover “Boston Breakout” to the Red Sox as a rally cry but nothing came of it. I always thought “The Gauntlet” by the Dropkick Murphys would be a killer choice to get the crowd fired up. Imagining them five feet above the retired numbers playing before a packed house screaming the chorus “Stand up and fight!” sent shivers down my spine. However, nothing came of that idea either. Maybe because I never mentioned it to anyone. It must have taken me about four home games to realize that the Sox did decide to feature the Dropkicks musically, albeit not the way I envisioned. They let them write their own team anthem and basically gave Ken Casey the keys to the castle in the process. Here’s what he had to say.

Jay Hale: I thought punk rockers weren’t supposed to like sports?

Ken Casey: Yeah, I never bought in to that. I think that was just a cop out for a lot of punk rockers who couldn’t play sports. I mean, obviously the traditional theme in punk rock is that the jocks beat up the punks but I actually got turned on to punk rock by a kid when I was playing Babe Ruth [Youth Baseball] and I was 13 and this kid was 15. He brought a bunch of us to our first shows. I never bought into [the idea that punks aren’t supposed to like sports]. To me, it was more of a football player type of thing. Kids who played baseball and hockey, not all of them obviously, but that’s who I was going to punk rock shows with — kids that I played sports with so that’s a bit of a myth to a degree.

J: The Dropkicks Murphys recorded a song for the Boston Bruins and now for the Red Sox. Is this some kind of scam to get tickets and meet sports heroes?

K: Basically, yes.

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