"It was always a dream to perform at Fenway since I have been a lifelong Sox fan, and I did everything I could to make it happen but I just never got the call," Green said in an e-mail.
On June 12, The Cords, clad in their signature corduroy pants, performed their rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" to a sold-out crowd before the Red Sox took on the Colorado Rockies at Fenway Park.
"It was pretty much the coolest thing I have ever done in my life," John Beck '09, the president of the Cords, said. "Stepping out onto the dirt at Fenway Park is amazing. It is such a historic and important ballpark that to see a game there, much less sing the national anthem, is really the experience of a lifetime."
Fifteen of the group's members, including members of the class of 2007, were able to perform. Because a number of men could not travel to Boston over the interim period, the group also invited six alumni to join them in the momentous occasion. Green, who is currently doing a pediatric residency in Denver, Colo., flew to Boston for the day just to partake in the realization of his dream.
"It was great to have the young alumni come back and sing with us; we even had a '97 come back," Matthew Applegate '10 said. "It is really nice that people still care about the group and want to come out and sing with us and support us."
Though this is not the first time that the all-male a capella group has performed in front of a large crowd -- the group has sung the national anthem at Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat basketball games -- the crowd at Fenway, which exceeded 36,000, is the largest thus far.
"It was pretty exciting just to have so many people hear your voice live," Phil Rehayem '08 said. "You don't get that with a capella most of the time, since you mostly just perform to people in a room, so thinking of the idea of people watching you on TV -- even if most opening ceremonies aren't televised, the prospect is pretty cool."
The suggestion that The Cords sing the national anthem at a Red Sox game came as a surprise. This past December, on their winter tour, the group sang at a rotary club in Brockton, Mass. After performing the Neil Diamond song "Sweet Caroline" -- also sung during the seventh-inning stretch at Fenway -- rotarian Steve Green, C.E.O. of W.B. Mason, which is a partner of the Red Sox, suggested the group perform at an opening ceremony for the team. He put former president Michael Amico '07 in touch with the Red Sox and arranged the June date.
The group received positive feedback after the performance on June 12, and Steve Green introduced the idea of a potential second Fenway performance during the MBA playoffs. For the moment, however, the group is content with their once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"It was incredible," Jesse Victor '09 said. "We all had a ton of fun doing it, and I'll definitely treasure it forever and tell my kids and grandkids and great-grandkids all about the time I sang the national anthem at Fenway Park."
