Elliott: Garth Brooks always found "Standing outside the fire"

Garth Brooks spent some time with the New York Mets during spring training in 2000. This year he is in the Pittsburgh Pirates camp in Bradenton, Fla.

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Thanks to Danny Gallagher and former Expo trainer Ron McClain for passing on a Garth Brooks message about his Toronto concert.

I once asked McClain, an Indiana lad what his greatest day in baseball was and he said, "It might have been standing on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry with Charlie Lea."

We drove from Toronto to Brooks back-to-back nights in Ottawa when he really had Friends in Low Places.

We even drove to Niagara Falls, NY to watch his HBO show from Central Park, since HBO was not available in Mississauga. I finally interviewed him in 2000 when he trained with the New York Mets at Port St. Lucie, Fla., as he had done previously with Kevin Towers' San Diego Padres.

While I was asking Brooks my questions, I could see veteran New York scribes Martin Noble of Newsday and Kit Stier of Gannett Westchester Group, watching intently. Martin was into Mo-Town, and doo-wop music. Big time. Kit was not country. I wondered ... something was up.

Later Noble asked, “What did he say? How was he? Was he snarky? Did he blow you off."

They had told Brooks I was not to be trusted and asked Brooks to tell me “I only talk to Canadian writers from Saskatchewan.”

Brooks was so nice he would not take part of the gag. He told me the best part of being in camp -- besides raising money for charity -- was when a player would slide up to him in the outfield during batting practice and say "Hey that song "Unanswered Prayers ... My wife and I really like it -- it's our song." Or they would say, "The Dance, we danced that at our wedding."

I told him I respected the way he paid tribute to his mentors George Strait and Keith Whitley,

Then it started to rain .... Brooks and I walked all the way from a back field into the clubhouse past lines of fans. We talked as he changed warm up tops.

Then he walked back out, signed and spoke to people on cell phones “Hi it’s Garth, Garth Brooks, really,” shook hands and signed hats, autographs ... anything for 2 1/2 hours.

It was amazing.