KIRO NEWSRADIO

Why Death Cab’s Gibbard didn’t cheer for perfect game against M’s

Apr 23, 2012, 11:11 AM | Updated: Oct 14, 2024, 8:50 am

perfectgameWhile plenty of Mariners fans
were cheering the perfect game tossed against the team
Saturday by Chicago’s Philip Humber, Death Cab for Cutie
leader Ben Gibbard wasn’t one of them.

Listen to Why Ben Gibbard isn’t cheering perfect
game

The hardcore M’s fan and frontman of the best-selling
Seattle rock band tells Ross and Burbank that watching the
end of the game while on tour back in Boston was
heartbreaking.

“To my humiliation, everyone in catering is all
cheering this thing and I’m a little bit ashamed to say
this a couple of days later but I got up, screamed a bunch
of kind of obscenities and then bolted out of the room and
went and sat by myself for about 20-30 minutes.”

Luke was feeling the same way, especially seeing
Mariners fans eagerly rooting for Seattle to go down in
infamy. And Gibbard admits, in the heat of the moment, he
couldn’t understand how people could celebrate Seattle’s
offensive impotence.

“Great job Mariners,” Gibbard tweeted immediately
following the game.

“Hearing the fans cheering at Safeco made me think
‘what the hell is wrong with these people?'” Gibbard says.

But he says playing a sold-out show and some sleep gave
him a little different perspective.

“The shame and humiliation are wearing off.
I am now able to recognize the achievement for what it
is…I just do not possess the sportsmanship necessary to
acknowledge that achievement in real time,” Gibbard
laughs.

But he says the Mariners obvious offensive deficiencies
don’t give him much comfort, especially since Humber
wasn’t even the White Sox best pitcher.

“If this guy can throw a perfect game against the
Mariners, it’s not unlikely the Mariners could be no-hit
again this year.”

But he says it won’t keep him from playing “Take Me Out
to the Ballgame” at Safeco Field again, if he’s invited.

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