Hall of Fame to honor John Fogerty for playing 'Centerfield'
John Fogerty, the legendary rock and roll star who wrote a song that has become synonymous with the game, will become the first musician honored at baseball's Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
"Because of the lasting contributions to baseball and Americana made by John Fogerty,'' said Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson, "we are thrilled to pay homage to him and the song. The song captures the spirit and energy of those of us who have dreamed of being a baseball star and playing center field."
Fogerty, who says that he nearly abandoned the idea of writing the song because he felt it might be too corny, never envisioned it would become a song that is frequently played in stadiums.
"I'm totally flabbergasted that it was adopted by baseball and embraced like it has been,'' says Fogerty, 64. "As a rock-and-roller, there was a time when I wondered if I should even do it. Do you dare go ahead with that song? Even though I really, really liked it, maybe it would be too corny?''
Fogerty now just hopes he can keep his composure performing on stage in front of many of his idols, such as Reggie Jackson, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.
"This will be like playing center field at Yankee Stadium in a World Series,'' says Fogerty, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. "It's like nothing I've ever done in real life.
"I just hope I can hold myself together to be professional and not just turn into an 8-year-old while I'm there.''
Fogerty, who grew up in Berkeley, Calif., and is a diehard Athletics fan, says he always considered center field the most vital position on the field. He actually never gave up on his dream of playing center field for the Yankees, he says, until his 35th birthday.
"The day I turned 35,'' Fogerty says, "I came into my office, saw my brother, Bob, and said, 'I guess the Yankees aren't going to call me up.' Until that moment in time, I had that dream in the back of my head that it would happen. It wasn't until my birthday that I kind of accepted the concept it wasn't going to happen.''
The way Fogerty figures it, this may be the next-best thing.
"This will be totally special,'' he says, "in a class all of its own.''
They are sucking. No offense right now. Although, I would like to see what your guys do with two knuckleball pitchers in back to back games. I watched some of the game last night. I couldn't take Moyer sucking so I turned it off and went to read. They were down 2-0 when I turned it off.
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Stop trying to be what you see. Be what you ought to be.
I wasn't really paying attention to the story this morning, so it was possible what I heard was someone making a comment about the guitar shaped like a baseball bat.
I would like my Phillies to go on a 10 game winning streak starting tonight. They are playing a lot of games within the division over the next week and a half.
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Stop trying to be what you see. Be what you ought to be.
