By Bob Berry

I would like to dedicate this blog to my old friend #23, Waterford’s Kirk Gibson.

He caught home runs at MSU, stirred the drink for our Detroit Tigers, and has hit one of the greatest home runs in World Series history, TWICE! The one you always hear about from for the Dodgers in 1988. And the upper deck shot off Goose Gossage at old Tiger Stadium in the ’84 Fall Classic.

These days, as you may know, Kirk is battling Parkinson’s Disease. For my money, someone should have told Mr. P to pick a different fight.

Go Get ‘Em, Gibby, we are all behind you!

So its World Series time. Kansas CityRoyals and New York Mets. Passionate fans hoping their team has a Gibson moment, Mets down 2 games to none, heading to New York for the weekend. Here’s our short take on three of baseball’s greatest hits, beginning with this Sound of Philadelphia from 1968.

Next up, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s John Fogerty with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, doing John’s baseball classic from spring of 1985.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXhEqCPSq7k

And finally, could it have been anything else, our Number One Baseball Classic. Just wait til next year!

40 years ago, 23 year old Jose Feliciano sat before a public address microphone at Tiger Stadium. Detroit was playing in the World Series and Tiger broadcaster Ernie Harwell was assigned the job of selecting the talent to render The National Anthem. Jose followed Marvin Gaye, who sang a straight version after the Tigers directed Harwell to admonish the Motown superstar to keep things traditional. Today, Jose’s rendition sounds tame in comparison to the diverse interpretations we hear at almost every sporting event. But in the day it generated a firestorm of controversy. Here’s NPR’s excellent remembrance of how it happened. (Special thanks to Keenerfan Jim Feliciano for the picture and recording of Jose’s performance at Michigan and Trumbull.)