Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Center-Field

I always thought John Fogerty was one of the top song writers of all time. Some say Dylan was the best, but he didn’t do what John Fogerty has done. His song "Centerfield," gets inducted into Cooperstown this summer. He will be the only musician ever inducted the Baseball Hall of Fame. He wrote the song after watching Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle roam centerfield for the Yankees and Willie Mays for the Giants.

I was lucky to be able to get autographs from these three all-time greats at a time when I was in a collecting phase. In a recent article in Rolling Stone, Fogerty said when he goes to Cooperstown for the induction he will ask for autographs from some of the baseball stars there. "I've met a few of my boyhood heroes already," he says, "and even though I am 65-years-old, I will turn into a 10-year-old. I've got a baseball and a pen and I'll say something like, 'Well, Mr. Ripken, can you sign my baseball?' And he'll be like, 'Oh, is it for your son?' And I'll say, 'No, it's for me.'" Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that!

Most people probably don’t remember John Fogerty. He was part of the music group Creedance Clearwater Revival and his songs were very much part of the 1960s and part of the music me and my brothers grew up listening to during our teenage years. Some of his songs were: “Proud Mary,” "Green River," "Have You Ever Seen the Rain," "Bad Moon Rising" and "Travelin' Band,” to name just a few. You can hear his music on some of the war movies put out a few years back. He tours alone now because of some differences with his band, but that doesn’t take away from his song-writing abilities. And who else can say they have a song of theirs in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

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