Fogerty wrote this after watching the Major League Baseball All-Star game from the bleachers at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. His seat was behind centerfield. This plays continuously at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Along with "Talkin' Baseball" and "Take Me Out To The Ballgame," this is one of the most popular baseball songs ever. It's a fixture at ballparks between innings of games. Fogerty was inspired by Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," which includes the line "Rounding third he was heading for home." Fogerty mentions the song in the lyrics. Baseball legends mentioned in the song: Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, and Ty Cobb. The second verse refers to the legendary Mighty Casey from the epic poem Casey At The Bat. At the end of the story, Casey strikes out. This was the title track to Fogerty's first solo album after a 9 year absence. This was Fogerty's third solo album after leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1972. His first 2 albums did not sell well, but this went to #1 in the US. When George W. Bush was campaigning for president of the US in 2000, he told a reporter this was his favorite song. Bush used to own part of the Texas Rangers baseball team, and liked the line "Put me in coach, I'm ready to play."
In our Regular Wednesday Night Division, we play "CLUB BASEBALL" in the tradition of
the 1850's New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club when Base Ball games
were played by social and fraternal clubs seeking exercise among friends, and before
it became a "commerical spectacle. Of course, baseball has become its own focus and an
entire industry. Our Club (because it really is not a "league" in which independent teams
seek fame and fortune, typically at the expense of other teams) seeks to embody baseball's
roots by rededicating ourselves to baseball's social and fraternal roots. Our focus upon
the virtues of competition MUST be secondary to our relationships with each other as
club members in a baseball fraternity! "If you are not prepared to be our friend, then
please do not join our club." If you know of happy or unhappy news about one of
our players or his family, then please do not hesitate to inform our League Chaplain,
Bob Bodi, whose job also is to keep the League's focus on our fraternal aspirations.
More info.
Manatee Adult Baseball League (operated by Manatee Adult Baseball, Inc.) is a four team participatory recreational wooden bat baseball program for ONLY good sports. Older players are encouraged. All players register with the League and are placed on a team to help ensure parity. Special rules for safety and parity include no stealing of home, a sliding requirement, limitations on a pitcher returning to the mound after the pitcher's team is leading by 5 or more runs, and ending a half-inning at the end of the play during which that team's fifth run of the inning is scored. E-Mail: ManateeAdultBB@verizon.net Call: 941-748-8470 Fax: 941-747-6804
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