 Adams first drummed at an Indians game on August 24 , 1973 , at Cleveland Stadium , at a game in which the Indians beat the Texas Rangers , 11 – 5 . Adams , who was 21 years old at the time , has stated that he brought his bass drum to that first game because he wanted to add to the noise of " seat banging " , a tradition at Cleveland Stadium in which fans would bang the swivel seat of their chairs against the chair 's base during tense moments in the game . But Adams preferred to sit in the bleachers , where there were no seats to bang . 
