Put Me In Coach...I'm ready to play...Left-Field

Any baseball fan knows the words to the song "Centerfield" by heart...

"Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today

Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today

Look at me, I can be Centerfield"

Would we all know the song the same if John Fogerty had written it about the position he played when he was younger?  On Tuesday Fogerty participated in a conference call with the Tampa Bay Rays and informed listeners that  when younger, he grew up a fan of the Oakland A's and he played left field.

On April 24 at Tropicana Field, Fogerty will be kicking off the 2010 Rays Summer Concert Series after Tampa Bay’s game with Toronto.

From the Bradenton.com web site: 

"I played left out," he said Tuesday when asked what position he played. "I must say, I wasn't real good. I was probably a legend in my own mind."

In 1985, Fogerty released his comeback solo effort after years with the legendary Creedence Clearwater Revival.  Fogerty states that the song, was influenced by his life at the time... 

“I looked at it is a comeback of sorts,” he said. “I just sort of poured all of the things I could relate to into the song — spring time and spring training is the most hopeful time, it’s a metaphor for life...

It's no surprise Fogerty fell back on baseball. He remembers reading "Lou Gehrig: Boy of the Sandlot" when he was a young child and spent most of his childhood outdoors, playing the game with four brothers.

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I wonder if the song would sound the same if these lyrics about left-fielders were used instead:

So say hey Ted (Williams), tell Stan "The Man" (Musial) and Carl Yastrzemksi-o

Don't say it ain't so, you know the time is now

Today's Baseball Song of the Day: Centerfield

Artist: John Fogerty

Released 1985