Jose Feliciano stuns Tiger Stadium crowd with his version of 'Star Spangled Banner' at 1968 World Series

I heard Jose Feliciano sing his own interpretation of the 'Star Spangled Banner' , the American National Anthem before Game 5 of the World Series between Detroit and St. Louis at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Jose Feliciano's breakthrough interpretation of the US National Anthem, was on Oct. 7, 1968. What was a kid from Chapleau, Ontario, doing there? I was in the Press Box with my friend and colleague, the late Reyn Davis, who at the time was sports editor of the Chatham Daily News, who later became the hockey writer for the Winnipeg Free Press, covering the Winnipeg Jets. Reyn was named the best hockey writer in North America by the University of Missouri School of Journalism and to the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame. Reyn's great passion though was baseball, and while we were in Tiger Stadium before one game, he was able to throw a ball out to a player in the field and have a turn at bat during warmup. At the time I was news editor at the Daily News. Jose Feliciano stunned the crowd at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, and the rest of America, when he strummed a slow, bluesy rendition of the national anthem, according to his web site. "The 23-year-old's performance was the first nontraditional version seen by mainstream America... The fiery response from Vietnam-weary America was not surprising, considering the tumultuous year for American patriotism." He was banned from some radio and TV stations. However, in 2010, Feliciano returned to Tiger Stadium and gave the same rendition in memory of Ernie Harwell, the legendary voice of the Detroit Tigers. It was Harwell who had invited him in 1968. It was the Sixties, and indeed, the times were a changing. I kept my Press Pass to the World Series for many years, finally losing it in one of my moves. God bless America on this July 4th, and to my many American friends, thanks for the memories I have of time spent in your country. Here is Jose Feliciano back in Tiger Stadium in 2010