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Many years ago in a town called Greenpoint there lived a man by the name of "Pop".
-Dream Alone, Buttwhistle & Monty
In 1981 seven cousins got together to have some dinner and take in a baseball game. Their grandpa (Pop) had told them when they were kids, "Someday I'll take you to the stadium." But he never got to; so before they would have their first brew they would raise a little toast to him...
The Cousins Game Song
The first of two Buttwhistle/Monty originals about the cousins game. This one tells of the origins of the game.
The Cousins Game: Explained
Hear some of the participants explain the origin and meaning of the game.
And so began The Cousins Game; an annual celebration of family, baseball and beer which lasted from 1981 til 1993.
What started out as dinner and a game eventually expanded to include a stickball game in the morning, a barbeque in the afternoon, then dinner and the game with a nightcap at either the Landmark, Mugs Ale House or cousin Toms' house or at all three...
The Cousins Game: Flashback
From dinner to Shea travel with the cousins as they make merry in the summer of 1989.
The Cousins grew up National League fans; so accordingly "the game" always took place at Shea stadium; home of the beloved Mets. The tickets were sold in blocks of 8, and being there were only 7 cousins, they always brought a guest to fill the 8th seat. To the cousins the 8th seat represented Pop and, since he couldn't be there, a special guest would be chosen to take his place. It was, in the cousins eyes, a high honor to be chosen as guest. Of course some years they fought bitterly over the selection of the guest.
Of course as the tradition grew through the years it was inevitable that the songwriting team of Buttwhistle and Monty would put pen to paper and capture in words and music the essence of the Cousins Game experience. Here's the result...
The Cousins Game 10th Anniversary Song
This Buttwhistle/Monty classic celebrates 10 years of the cousins outing. Also, for you trivia buffs and conspiracy theorists, it is also the only known images of Buttwhistle and Monty together.
As mentioned above, the Cousins Game lasted from 1981 til 1993. At the time of the '93 game the cousins had every reason to believe that the Cousins Game tradition would continue for many years to come; but fate had other plans.
In 1994 there was a baseball strike and so the outing was cancelled. Then in the summer of 1995 Ann Bolan (daughter of Pop and mother of four cousins) was losing her struggle with cancer. No one was in the mood for a party and so the 1995 outing was cancelled. Then in September of that year, three weeks to the day after Ann Bolan lost her brave battle, cousin Mike died suddenly. That sealed the deal. Although years later the surviving cousins would get together for a game, the Couisns Game tradition had ended on that awful September day.
