Reggie's Not "Fair" says HOFer Fisk

A Rebuttal From Backstop Fisk
ST is 'A Huge Cultural Icon to Be Reconded With'.


By Carleton Fisk

"Recently I came across an article penned by Mr. Reggie Jackson regarding the rock troupe Situation Tranquil. With all due respect Mr.Jackson, ST rocks harder than a Lamar Hoyt slider in on the hands during an April night game.

During my long career in the game calling signals for the Red Sox then later the White Sox, I often turned to Situation Tranquil for energy. It's a long grueling season. It's a marathon rather than a sprint. The key is to train properly, eat right, get your rest and hope you can stay away from injuries. That said sometimes you just need a little extra push. My push often came from popping in an ST cassette and enveloping myself in the heavy groove they selflessly provided.

Many a night just before gametime I would pop on the headphones and let songs like "Momma doesn't #$%&" or "Monkey Vision" to help get me ready to play. I know many of my teammates did the same thing. Harold Baines was into the ST album "Crashing for a Living". He used to play that in the room at extremely high volume. Ron Kittle like "Spittle Brigade" and felt it reached places deep inside himself. He used that inspiration many times to push us over the top.

I respect you Reggie as a player, but what are you thinking? Name one other band that has transcended time, gender, race, socio-econical and shoe-size like ST.

Now I'm retired. My life has changed from the days when I would catch a day-night doubleheader, take a quick catnap then close down Kansas City's reknowned nightlife, only to stagger back to the team hotel as the prarie sun crept over the horizon. All the while ST tunes banging away inside my cranium.

Now you may say that my friendship with members of the band taint any objective view of the band. To that I say 'Bunk!'. Sure I hang out with Trash, KF and Ennos. Sure I have business relationships with Markus and Iggy. And I'm into wife-swapping with the Beach family. But in no way does that influence my ability to judge incredible rock music. Music that has quite frankly allowed me to make a graceful move from life as a professional athlete to that of a venture capitalist/amatuer gynocologist.

That said, the way I see it, we are all fortunate to be alive in a time when Situation Tranquil dominates the music scene.

For ST.com I'm Carleton Fisk
Peace