Of Sticks and Stones and Eagles and...

by Robert Hilburn
Los Angeles Times
May 9, 1978

The Eagles' Glenn Frey liked what he saw as he stood by the edge of the dugout before Sunday afternoon's "grudge" softball game against Rolling Stone magazine. The stands at USC's Dedeaux Field were filling up.

"That's what we wanted - lots of people here," said the 29-year-old singer guitarist on such Eagles' hits as "Lyin' Eyes" and "New Kid In Town."

"That gives us a big advantage. We're used to being in front of 20,000 people in concert so the noise won't bother us. But those Rolling Stone guys are accustomed to sitting alone in a room with a typewriter. They'll be nervous as hell when all those people start yelling."

"I can hear it now. Around 4 p.m., when the game's over, they're going to be standing around here yelling: 'Rematch! Rematch!' They'll want us to play in Central Park or somewhere back East. But I'm going to make 'em wait. This is one victory I'm going to savor for a long time."

As it turned out, Frey was conservative. It didn't take the Eagles as long to knock over the Stone team as he had figured. By 3:30 p.m., it was all over.

With help from such friends as L.A. Kings defenseman Gary Sargent, the Eagles demolished the Stone staff 15-8 in a slow-pitch softball game. It was even more lopsided than the score suggests. Three of the Stone runs came in the 9th inning, long after the game was out of reach.

"Divine retribution," shouted Frey. "Those guys always get the last word when they write about us, but we showed 'em today . . ."

Nearby, a discouraged Jann Wenner, the magazine's celebrated editor-publisher, tried to be philosophical. Sounding like a veteran major league manager trying to rationalize his team's loss in a big game, he said:

"Look at the scoreboard: 19 hits. That's more than the Eagles got. If we could have just tightened our defense. We were sloppy. But we're not used to playing in front of so many people. We got jittery. Still, take away those errors in the sixth and . . ."

But Frey kept celebrating. He grabbed a bottle of champagne from a dugout cooler and headed for teammate Tim Schmit, whose four hits had earned him the game ball as the star of the day. Pouring champagne over Schmit's head, he let out a victory yell. On this day, the sword - or, at least, softball bat - was mightier than the pen.

"Yes sir," Frey repeated. "I'm going to savor this one for a long time."

The Eagles - America's biggest selling rock band in recent years - are a pretty private bunch. They rarely do interviews, sit around posing for photographers or engage in other pop stardom amenities. They didn't even show up at the Grammy ceremonies in February to pick up the record-of-the-year award for "Hotel California."

So it was surprising that they agreed to a softball game in front of 5,000 people at Dedeaux Field. It was even stranger to see them stand around after the game signing autographs, chatting with writers and mugging for the dozens of photographers. One freelancer, delighted at the informal peek at the band, said: "I got enough shots today to pay the rent for a month."

The Eagles were lured to the spotlight Sunday by the chance to even the score - sort of - with Rolling Stone magazine. Frey, the most outspoken member of the L.A.-based quintet, had been charged up for weeks.

"With the exception of Cameron Crowe's cover story on us, I don't think the magazine has been particularly insightful as far as it comes to the Eagles," he said, watching his team go through some pregame infield practice.

"When (the Eagles' acclaimed best seller) 'Hotel California' came out, they didn't even give us the lead review. It was just treated like 'Oh, another album from the Eagles, ho-hum.'"

"This game will be a different way for us to compete . . . but I'm kinda disappointed about one thing. I thought it was going to be musicians versus critics . . . But they've got guys on their team from the mail room, the camera room and everywhere else. They've also got a couple of ringers. That's OK. We've got some surprises, too."

Sunday's meeting followed months of sometimes good-natured, sometimes testy barbs between the band and the magazine. The game mostly was in fun. The feud that led to it, however, was genuine, at least on the Eagles' part. The group felt Rolling Stone had taken cheap shots. Don Henley, the band's singer-drummer, made it clear what he thought about the magazine's coverage. Across the front of his jersey Sunday was the word, "Bull ----."

After some slights a few years ago, the Eagles refused to talk with Stone writers. Rolling Stone then began needling the band in its gossipy Random Notes column. When the Eagles began playing softball games against other groups and radio stations, Stone printed only the scores of games the Eagles lost.

Irate, Frey called the magazine on it. He challenged the "pencil-pushing desk jockeys" to a game.

Rolling Stone said OK and suggested these terms: If the magazine wins, the Eagles have to grant an interview. If the Eagles win, the magazine would take the band out to dinner at a New York hot dog stand.

The Eagles countered by proposing the losing team donate $5,000 to UNICEF. Rolling Stone agreed. By game time, the pot had been sweetened. An Eagles' victory meant the band could write up the game - unedited - in the magazine. A Stone victory? A short interview.

However important to the Eagles, the game was mostly a lark - at first - to most of the Stone staff. Besides Jann Wenner (who didn't play), the magazine was represented by some of its top bylines: Dave Marsh, Ben Fong-Torres, Cameron Crowe, Charles Young, Peter Herbst and Joe Klein. Jack Ford, son of the former President and now assistant to Wenner, also showed up.

By game time, nervousness and competitive pride had made the Stone crew think more seriously about the event. Psyched by the Eagles' reputation as a shrewd, two-fisted, highly competitive outfit, several Stone players worried about last-minute tricks.

An early complaint Sunday was that the ball here was livelier than the kind the staff - mostly from New York - was used to in Central Park. Others were concerned about the presence in the Eagles' lineup of hockey player Sargent, who looked strong enough to lift half the Stone starting team.

But the real issue Sunday was the Great Cleat Controversy. After assuming the game would be played in rubber-soled shoes, the Stone writers were tipped off Friday that the Eagles were practicing with shoes that had metal cleats. Because cleats can cut an opponent's leg during a slide into base, the game suddenly took on more ominous overtones. Visions of Frey and Henley sliding into second cleats-first raced through the Stone dugout.

Defensively, the Stone staff went out and purchased $500 worth of shoes with the cleats. But a last-minute huddle Sunday resulted in a decision that both teams would wear the old rubber shoes.

The Eagles scoffed at the change. "We wear metal cleats in all our games," said Henley. "Wenner must think Frey and I are psychotic and out to get their guys . . . So we're stuck with these peace cleats."

Because some of the Eagles were once in Linda Ronstadt's band, many in the stands Sunday hoped the singer would be on hand to cheer the team. She wasn't. The crowd was treated to glimpses of Joni Mitchell, Daryl Hall, Steely Dan's Donald Fagan, Stephen Bishop and comedian Chevy Chase. The loyalties seemed divided. Hall and Chase spent a lot of time in the Stone dugout. Mitchell rooted for the Eagles.

But Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. got the biggest cheer when he dropped by after the first inning to shake hands with members of both teams. Like most politicians, Brown showed his expertise at moving quickly in crowds. He made it through both dugouts and waved to the crowd in less time than most of the day's athletes took to circle the bases.

Except for a walk, Don Henley - who pitched the entire game for the Eagles - retired the Stone batters with ease in the first inning.

"This is going to be a piece of cake," said guitarist Don Felder, the most relaxed of the Eagles.

Thinking better about the famous-last-words danger of the statement, he added smiling: "If we lose, don't use that line."

Then: "And don't use that one at all."

The Eagles got off to a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks largely to a double by Richard Hernandez (the band's tour manager) and triples by both Peter Cetera (the bass player from the group Chicago) and concert promoter Terry Bassett.

Rolling Stone gave the Eagles a fright in the top of the third. It not only tied the score at 3-3, but still had the bases loaded with just one out.

When associate editor Joe Klein drilled one of Henley's pitches down the first base line, the Eagles' dugout gasped. Luckily for them, the ball was foul - by inches. After the scare, Henley got Klein and the next batter without any more runs scoring.

Picking up three runs in both the third and fourth innings, the Eagles advanced to a solid 9-3 lead, but it wasn't enough for Frey. After his team failed to get a hit in the fifth, he paced the dugout, urging:

"No more quiet innings, guys. We've got to keep coming at 'em . . . Six runs isn't enough. Wait for your pitch."

The Eagles responded. The first four batters in the sixth got on base. When Frey followed with a double, he was ready to claim victory. He raised his arms high above his head. In the Stone's dugout, Wenner began reaching for his $5,000 check to UNICEF.

But the Stone staff did have one final moment of satisfaction. With the game no longer in doubt, Wenner sent in a female member of the magazine's business staff to pitch to the macho-prone rock stars in the ninth. When lead-off batter Frey popped up weakly to the first baseman, Wenner howled with delight.

"That was worth the five grand," he shouted across the field to Azoff. "That was worth it all . . ."

Charles Young, the Rolling Stone writer who called the Eagles sissies in a series of mostly tongue-in-cheek barbs in recent Random Notes columns, made his way through the crowd to the Eagles' dugout after the game. He was looking for Henley.

Though not as outgoing as Frey, Henley - who writes most of the Eagles' tunes with Frey - is just as intense and competitive. Angered by the sissy remark, he sent a letter to Young a few weeks ago that said, "Just remember, Charlie boy, I'm pitching and I don't like you. Very sincerely, Henley."

Spotting his adversary, Young introduced himself and said: "Very sincerely, we were the sissies today." It was one quote Henley hopes Rolling Stone does print.

Afterward, the two teams went to a West Hollywood restaurant for dinner. Hoping for a rematch in Central Park, most of the Stone staff left Monday for New York. The Eagles, meanwhile, continue to work on the follow-up to "Hotel California."

Frey said Sunday the album, about one-third completed, should be ready by late summer. The band's next L.A. concert? Possibly October at the Forum.