In preparation for the Vote For Change Tour, Centerfield is known to have been practiced during two of the tour's three private rehearsals : 

 

29 Sep 2004 at Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ (private rehearsal)

 

Centerfield was performed 6 times during the Vote For Change Tour. On this tour, the song was always played with John Fogerty on lead vocals; Springsteen played rhythm guitar throughout the song and joined on vocals for the chorus.

 

 

 

2004-10-01 Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, PA  

First in the Vote For Change concert series. The series is designed to encourage people to register and vote in the upcoming elections, with each concert held in swing states. Although the tour is not obviously partisan, the general tone of the performers is in support of Democrat candidate John Kerry. Bruce and the band perform along with R.E.M. and Bright Eyes. Bruce joins R.E.M. during their set for "Man On The Moon". "The Star-Spangled Banner" is played on a 12-string acoustic guitar. "Mary's Place" includes "The Monkey Time".

  

"Centerfield" is the title track from John Fogerty's album Centerfield, Fogerty's first solo album after a nine-year hiatus. Originally the b-side of the album's second single, "Rock and Roll Girls" ( 1985). The song is now commonly played at baseball games across the United States. Along with "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," it is one of the best-known baseball songs. Fogerty took approximately 10 years off from recording after leaving Creedence Clearwater Revival and releasing two solo albums. For his comeback album, he chose “Centerfield” as the name of the album before he wrote the song. Fogerty said the song was easy to write. "I was practicing a song, and I came up with that guitar riff that starts the song," he said. "I went into the studio, playing the guitar with a drumbeat and it just came out." Baseball legends mentioned in the song include Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, and Ty Cobb, all 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 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".