30 MLB Ballparks, 30 national anthem performances for Estero’s Jim Doepke

Every time Jim Doepke, who lives in Estero, plays the national anthem, it’s a privilege.

“I think it’s important that people have that minute and 10 seconds where they’re hopefully off their phones and thinking about how lucky we are in this country,” Doepke said.

Doepke has played the anthem thousands of times, all on the trumpet his parents gave him over 60 years ago. And every performance has that traditional sound.

“I perform the national anthem the way Francis Scott key had set it,” Doepke said.

The retired high school band director has played the anthem before several sporting events. But playing in a ballpark, that goes back years.

“I used to take a bugle to the Milwaukee Brewers games when they were in the old County Stadium and play in the stands,” Doepke recalled. “Play charge and get the fans all excited.”

Back in 2008, Doepke set out on a quest: to play the national anthem at every Major League ballpark. The first ballpark off the list was Fenway Park in Boston, which was his favorite. It took 11 years to hit them all.

From Wrigley Field in Chicago, where Doepke recalled, “it was 116 degrees on the field at game time.”

Doepke said his time at Angel Stadium in Anaheim was unique because, “it was an empty stadium. They have a policy that their anthems are all sung.”

Doepke added, “they opened the stadium and I did the anthem there and it was probably one of my finest performances.”

His completed mission commemorated in this photo book, with each photo bringing back a memory. For Jim, he’s not going to stop playing any time soon.

“When you retire I think you need to be able to stay active and have purpose,” Doepke said. “And this really gives me purpose.”