Sunday's threat of rain can't stop Lincoln Area Music Society from celebrating baseball

[June 11, 2025]    

With the possibility of rain Sunday, June 8, the Lincoln Area Music Society band, led by Riley McDorman, moved their concert to the United Methodist Church sanctuary.

The night’s theme was baseball, so it seemed fitting that the band started with the National Anthem.

Master of ceremonies Terry McDorman said the band’s selections would include familiar baseball tunes as well as songs related to the city various teams come from. Before the band played each song, he shared the composer and name of each one.

The band then played Jeremy Bell’s “Addison Red Line.” The Addison Red Line is a train stop near Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs.

To represent the St. Louis Cardinals, the band next played Jerry Nowak’s jazz standard “St. Louis Blues.”

Because Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the band then played the “Pirates of the Caribbean” theme song.

Terry McDorman said the band’s next selection was a 1908 waltz written by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer, who never went to ball games. However, the song became the well-known baseball anthem “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” which is played during the seventh inning stretch at ballgames. The audience was encouraged to sing along as the band played the popular tune.

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After a brief intermission, Terry McDorman recognized the sponsors that make these concerts possible. They include ME Realty, Culvers, Begolka Farms, Eaton and Lincoln Daily News. Anyone else who wishes to support the Lincoln Area Music Society may make donations.

The second half began with a song that was a tribute to the Cincinnati Reds.

New York has been home to the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees and New York Mets. To recognize them, the band played “New York, New York.”

John Fogerty’s song “Centerfield” talks about a player waiting to be play, so the band next played JW Hilds’ arrangement of the song.
Baseball, like so many parts of our national heritage, needs a song. Therefore, composer John Phillip Sousa wrote “The National Game” for the 50th anniversary of the National League in 1945.

To finish out the night, the band played Irving Berlin’s song “God Bless America.”

The band’s next concert will be Sunday, June 22 at Latham Park. In case of rain, the concert will be moved to the Methodist Church.

[Angela Reiners]

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