Of all the singing I’ve done over the years, I’ve never sung the national anthem at a sporting event. So I can’t imagine the pressure of getting it right, especially on a stage as big as a Major League Baseball game.
Let’s get the picture: a hot late-summer afternoon. A packed ballpark. Fans rising to their feet to honor our nation. Dr. Jesse McGuire steps to the mic, trumpet in hand.
McGuire is no stranger to musical moments. The former lead trumpeter for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and a one-time member of the Tower of Power — that legendary session horn section — McGuire is a masterful musician.
McGuire played the anthem before Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, and the Arizona Diamondbacks consider him a good luck charm of sorts. The team even gave him a ring after winning the World Series that year. McGuire was there to play The Star-Spangled Banner as part of the 25th anniversary celebration on Saturday.
Side note: The featured image on this article is of McGuire playing the national anthem before the 20th anniversary commemoration in 2021.
The national anthem began as beautifully as it could. McGuire’s notes rang out before the reverent crowd. Suddenly, things went wrong. McGuire’s horn failed, and after another attempt to keep going, he improvised in a way that even the best Hollywood scriptwriter couldn’t devise.
Dr. Jesse McGuire’s anthem couldn’t have encapsulated the Diamondbacks 2026 season more. pic.twitter.com/oELyD1yhgX
— PHNX Diamondbacks (@PHNX_Dbacks) September 20, 2026
I have to admit that I like his vocal performance as well as I like his trumpeting. His voice might even be better in my eyes.
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For what it’s worth, McGuire also sang “God Bless America” during the seventh-inning stretch. What a consummate professional, and you’d better believe that commenters noticed.
Okay, that guy is cool! He shows how a MAN deals with adversity! Way to go, Dr. McGuire!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🎺
— Benjamin Lasseter (@BenjaminLa73226) September 20, 2026
Okay, dang. That guy SINGING the national anthem was one of the best renditions I have ever heard. Straight and heartfelt, with none of the vocal gymnastics that so many singers feel the need to add.
— Been There (@stateinfide) September 20, 2026
As I noted earlier in this piece, Saturday’s game was a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of McGuire’s Game 7 anthem rendition. That World Series had been one for the ages in terms of patriotic musical moments.
Just weeks after the country had endured the horrors of 9/11, the wounds were still raw, and emotions were still near the surface. Cronkite News captured McGuire’s reaction to playing in 2001 earlier this year:
“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.
McGuire, 68, said that his brothers who served in Vietnam were on his mind. He also thought of playing the anthem for Game 7 as just another gig until the moment ended.
“It did several things in the span of two minutes,” he told Cronkite News. “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.”
“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 added.
In 2001, McGuire played the national anthem to a nation that was proving its resilience. A quarter century later, he captured the awe of an MLB crowd again by demonstrating one man’s grace and calm under pressure.
America’s still worth fighting for — and so is fearless, independent journalism.
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