John Adams, Who Banged His Drum Loudly in Cleveland, Dies at 71

Perhaps the best-known ballpark musicians performed from the late Thirties till 1957 at Ebbets Field, for the Brooklyn Dodgers — a band referred to as “the Sym-Phony” (emphasis on the “phony”), a ragtag group of newbie drummers, trumpeters, trombonists and washboard gamers.

John Joseph Adams was born on Oct. 9, 1951, in Cleveland to John and Eva (Friedman) Adams.

He attended his first Indians sport in 1954 and started taking part in the drums when he was 9. In highschool, he carried out within the marching band and the orchestra and led cheers; he graduated from Cleveland State University in 1975 with a bachelor’s diploma in English.

On Aug. 24, 1973, Mr. Adams requested for permission from the Indians to carry his drum to Municipal Stadium. Oddly, he was instructed to not disturb anybody together with his drumming.

“The first time, I got a lot of stares and a few comments like ‘You’re not going to play that thing, are you?’” he instructed The Beacon Journal, including that an inebriated fan throughout that sport grabbed his arm and stated: “You gonna bang on that drum? Well, then start hitting it.”

He did.

“Suddenly, I saw people clapping to the beat,” he recalled. “When the game was over, people stopped me outside the stadium. They told me I had the opposing pitcher so rattled that guys from the other team were looking all over for me.” The Indians beat the Texas Rangers that day, 11-5.

Mr. Adams continued to bang his drum — by many a shedding season on the previous Municipal Stadium and in principally higher occasions at Progressive Field — whereas working at AT&T in a number of positions, together with techniques analyst and high quality supervisor, for 40 years, till 2016.

Mr. Adams is survived by a sister, Renee Dilley. His marriage in 1978 to Kathleen Murray, whom he met within the bleachers at Municipal Stadium, led to divorce.