Art Cruz throws first pitch at Lamb of God’s hometown night

Art Cruz’s ceremonial first pitch at CarMax Park put Lamb of God’s drummer in the middle of a Richmond moment that felt bigger than a novelty act. With the band back in its hometown for the Flying Squirrels’ first Heavy Metal Night, Cruz was not just present as a sideman behind the kit. He was one of the faces of the night, sharing the spotlight with Mark Morton and Willie Adler, who handled the national anthem before the game.

The setup at the newly opened ballpark was built like a full-on civic crossover. The Richmond Flying Squirrels had lined up Lamb of God for June 4, 2026, for the club’s first-ever Heavy Metal Night against the Erie SeaWolves. Gates opened at 5:30 p.m., first pitch was scheduled for 7:05 p.m., and tickets started at $12. The band’s ballpark duties went well beyond the first pitch: Cruz joined Randy Blythe for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch, and the night also included a postgame meet-and-greet and a poster giveaway.

For drummer readers, the significance sits in how visibly Cruz was folded into the band’s public identity. This was not a clinic, a gear demo, or a backstage cameo. It was a hometown appearance where the drummer carried part of the event’s face value, alongside the vocal and guitar front line, in a setting built to pull in metal fans, baseball regulars, and families under the same roof. In Richmond, that crossover lands differently because Lamb of God has long been tied to the city’s music identity.

The appearance also worked as a coda to the band’s 2026 rollout. Lamb of God released Into Oblivion in March and finished touring behind it in April, with the album due March 13 and the North American headline run starting March 17 in National Harbor, Maryland. That made the baseball-night stop feel like a post-tour victory lap, but one with a local angle that gave Cruz and the rest of the band a public role far outside a standard stage set.

CarMax Park’s inaugural 2026 season has been built around giveaways, appearances, and entertainment experiences, and Lamb of God fit that plan cleanly. But the bigger story for the drum community was simpler: in Richmond, Art Cruz was not just the man behind the kit, he was part of the city’s evening out.