of them center fielders. Fogerty quoted a line from Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" in the first verse: "rounding third, he was heading for home." The second verse refers to Casey (of the Mudville Nine) from the poem "Casey at the Bat". The final verse quotes longtime Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants broadcaster Lon Simmons, whose home run call was "Tell it goodbye!" In a radio interview with Dan Patrick on October 8, 2015, Fogerty mentioned that he always pictured Jackie Robinson as the "brown eyed handsome man" who was "rounding third, headed for home". Charts and sales performance "Centerfield" reached No. 44 in the US Hot 100. Since it became available digitally in the 21st century, it has sold 734,000 downloads in US. In popular culture "Centerfield" is a fixture at ballparks of all levels, frequently played either when teams take the field or in-between innings. During games, the hand claps in the opening of the song are often played on a loop so that the fans can clap along; this practice has carried over to other sports. At Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, the song is played before Atlanta Braves home games as the Braves take their positions for the start of each game. The crowd performs the opening hand claps until the song begins playing. The Braves were once co-owned with Warner Bros. Records which released the album. At T-Mobile Park, home field of the Seattle Mariners, the song is played just before the gates open prior to a game. The song plays continuously at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. On July 25, 2010, Fogerty performed it at the induction ceremonies of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown to commemorate its 25th anniversary, with Mays in attendance. It was the first time a musician or a song has been celebrated as a part of the festivities. After completing the song, Fogerty announced that he was donating the baseball-bat-shaped guitar he used only for this song to the Hall of Fame. References External links Audio clips: WAV MP3 TRANSCRIPT 1985 singles John Fogerty songs Baseball songs and chants Songs written by John Fogerty Song recordings produced by John Fogerty Warner Records singles 1984 songs