Anthem

I don’t listen to country music and don’t know its stars. So the name, career, and reputation of Jack Ingram are mysteries to me.

I will say this: his rendition of The Star Spangled Banner before game six of the 2011 ALCS was sweet, delightful, unaffected, heartfelt, and delivered almost with the sense of a lullaby. His question about whether the flag was still aloft seemed genuine, as it might have been asked by a fallen soldier who was out of sight of the standard under which he had fought.

I found it intensely moving, and from this vast distance thank the man who performed it.

— Frenulum