This is the next in a series of stories from Cronkite News looking back at the Diamondbacks’ 2001 World Series win.
PHOENIX – Hands steady, laser-focused and almost oblivious to the white-clad crowd, Jesse McGuire stood between home plate and the pitching mound before Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, ready to play the national anthem on his biggest stage yet.
McGuire’s trumpet ushered in the final game of one of the most memorable and emotional World Series in baseball history – one set against the backdrop of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But that series wasn’t just notable for its on-field drama and its pervasive patriotism. It also included a star-studded cast of pre-game performers, including Ray Charles, Jessica Simpson, Jewel, Melissa Etheridge and Lee Greenwood.
Jewel opened the series by singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at then-Bank One Ballpark in an American flag tank top. Charles opened Game 2 with a performance of “America the Beautiful” that had many in the stadium choked up, including Yankees manager Joe Torre. Broadway actor and singer Max von Essen performed the national anthem at Yankee Stadium before Game 3, and Greenwood held down Game 4 in New York with his performance of “God Bless the USA.”
Etheridge performed the anthem before Game 6 back in Arizona and Jessica Simpson performed “God Bless America” during the 7th-inning stretch of the same game. That set the stage for McGuire and that fateful Game 7 when Luis Gonzalez’s bloop single off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Arizona what is, to date, its only men’s major pro sports championship.
“After the anthem, on the way back to the dugout, I almost didn’t make it, because the magnitude of what I had just done hit me all at once,” McGuire said, noting he still remembers the exact spot his knees almost gave out – three and a half feet off the chalk line on third base.
The series kicked off Oct. 27, 2001, just weeks after 9/11, the tragedy and timing of the series not lost on the players, performers or fans.
Even after 25 years, McGuire still remembers the little details of his performance – including exactly where his knees almost gave out after the performance when he realized the significance of the moment. The same goes for Greenwood. Greenwood grew up playing baseball, which only added to his Game 4 experience.
“I loved the game, and to honor America at a baseball game, and then the privilege of being able to sing a song that I wrote about the country that became part of the fiber right after 9/11, it was just one of those beautiful moments for me and my family and the country,” Greenwood said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years.”
Greenwood’s Game 4 performance marked his second appearance at Yankee Stadium that week. He had been there just days before for a fireman’s memorial, he said.
He walked out at Game 4 decked out in a red, white and blue jacket because he wanted to tie those colors to the World Series. To Greenwood, the series “was a moment when America got off its knees.”
“Getting back to sports was extremely important, because we had to let the rest of the world know that the attack of terrorism would not stop our way of life – baseball still being America’s sport,” he said.
For McGuire, the national anthem was a bit of a family affair. His two brothers served in the Vietnam War. They made it back but later died from the effects of Agent Orange, McGuire said. On Nov. 4, 2001, McGuire was thinking of his brothers when he took the field.
“I remember taking my two brothers out there with me, and all the people who I love and who love me, we all made that walk together,” he said.
For McGuire, the performance, regardless of the large audience, was just like any other day. He prepared the same way, played the same way. It wasn’t until after the last note faded out that he realized how impactful his rendition of the national anthem had been.
“It did several things in the span of two minutes,” McGuire said. “I’ve never seen a song that can take you and put you on your knees and bring you to your feet in the same song that quick.”
McGuire was anything but distracted as he walked onto the field. The white-out crowd and atmosphere had nothing on him, at least until the stealth bomber flyover, he said.
“All I saw during the entire anthem was the roof of that place, and the stealth bomber coming, and that place went nuts, man, when the stealth bomber showed up, and it was all I could do to stay in there,” he said.
While McGuire wrapped up the 2001 World Series, he was also inspired by Ray Charles, who performed for Game 2 of the series. Charles played on a baby grand piano, with the American flag stretched out on the field behind him.
“When you see Ray Charles and the life he’s lived in, the things he’s been through, to be able to express himself in a patriotic way, “America the Beautiful” for everybody, no matter what your race, creed, color, anything – that gave me the courage to go out there and do that,” McGuire said.
The players in the series were moved by Charles, as well.
“Ray Charles singing ‘America the Beautiful’ was amazing,” said Gonzalez, a left fielder for the Diamondbacks at the time. “I remember them spreading the large flag across the field as a sense of unity and togetherness with everyone in the stadium and throughout the country. Then the flyover at the end had the crowd going nuts.”
Charles died nearly three years after his World Series performance. McGuire’s wife and event coordinator, Donna, will never forget the iconic singer’s performance.
“Ray Charles is none other. There’s no one else like him,” she said. “I was probably crying when he was doing it, but I was proud of him, too.”
Donna was crucial to McGuire’s successful performance for Game 7, McGuire said. Donna limited the stress and kept the media away from McGuire until he was ready to go, making sure there were no distractions.
For Donna, the World Series opportunity was something she “always knew would come for (McGuire).”
Its lasting legacy is McGuire’s dream come true.
“Forget the fame. Forget all that, and I was a part of it,” he said. “Twenty-five years later, they’re still talking about it, and they still mention my name. That’s better than any Grammy or Emmy.”
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