The country singer performed the national anthem ahead of the only two 18-inning games in championship history
When Brad Paisley sings, baseball goes the distance.
On Monday night, the country singer performed the national anthem for the thousands of fans gathered at Dodger Stadium who had come to witness Game 3 of the World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers battled the Toronto Blue Jays. The night would turn out to be a record-tying 18th inning game that saw the Dodgers take the win and a brief lead before the Jays returned for Game 4 on Tuesday, securing a 6-2 victory.
It was the fourth time that Paisley’s guitar preceded extra innings, as the musician sang the anthem for the World Series three times prior in Los Angeles including Game 2 in 2017 that led to 11 innings, Game 3 in 2018 with 18 innings, and Game 1 in 2024 at 10 innings. His latest performance also marked one of two of the longest marathons in World Series history at 18-innings.
“Last night around, the 16th inning, I was going ‘There’s no way this is happening again,’” Paisley told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “I sat there in the in the seat when it ended last night, just staring, like, ‘OK, what does this even mean?’ And then I didn’t even realize ‘til today when a couple of these statisticians started compiling stuff… So I said today, I’m available for football games, too. If anybody wants, you know, another quarter or two out of their team.”
The country star quipped, “I should be ‘Mr. More Baseball.’ There’s the new nickname.”
The all-nighter proved to be costly for the Dodgers, as the Jays’ win guarantees the series will return to Toronto. Game 4 saw a slew of celebrities show up in support of their teams including Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, LeBron and Savannah James, Donald Glover, and Tinashe. The evening prior, a clip of Justin Bieber in full Jays gear went viral after the Swag singer was seen responding to one of Shohei Ohtani‘s home runs with a thumbs-down.
