It was never considered rock-and-roll.' Īccording to John, he drew his inspiration from center field at Yankee Stadium. 'Over the years it seemed like sports songs just didn't qualify into the rock-and-roll lexicon,' Fogerty said. 'I went into the studio, playing the guitar with a drumbeat and it just came out.' The song combines two of John's passions, baseball and rock & roll, and he was nervous about its reception.
'I was practicing a song, and I came up with that guitar riff that starts the song,' he said. For his comeback album, he chose “Centerfield” as the name of the album before he even wrote the song itself. John took approximately a decade off from recording after leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival and releasing two solo albums. In 2010, Fogerty became the only musician to be celebrated at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony when 'Centerfield' was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Along with ' Take Me Out to the Ball Game', it is one of the best-known baseball songs. Originally the b-side of the album's second single, 'Rock and Roll Girls' (#20 US, Spring 1985), the song is now commonly played at baseball games across the United States. ' Centerfield' is the title track from John Fogerty's album Centerfield, Fogerty's first solo album after a nine-year hiatus. For the Grey's Anatomy episode, see Put Me In, Coach.
