Baseball and the Organ

It’s not truly a baseball game until we’ve consumed our weight in peanuts and cracker jacks, and we’ve sung a rousing round of Take Me Out To The Ballgame led by an organ. Which all seems perfectly normal to us today. But, think about it - why an organ? I mean, it’s an organ. Traditionally, those things are humongous, require a lot of pipes, and are notoriously susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity. Not exactly what you’re looking for for your outdoor, summer sports. Oh, and sometimes snow.

[First Inning: Leading Off]

 Baseball started in...France? Possibly? Or maybe Abner Doubleday? Who knows? Either way, professional baseball shows up in the US in 1869 [Reds]. In its early days, no organs were present - pro baseball games only featured live music from special appearances of Marching Bands [St Louis Marching Band] – which had gained in popularity at sporting events in the early 20th century [Early Football Marching Bands], especially college football.

Here’s John Phillip Sousa, with what I assume to be his award-winning mustache. He was the director of the US Marines Band. He wrote a lot of marches. I mean, a lot of marches; including a march dedicated to baseball called the National Game March. Sousa was a baseball player himself (and so was Charles Ives). Sousa even fielded his own baseball team from members of his band.

[Second Inning: The “Secular” Organ]

The organ began to break away from its traditional home in churches and cathedrals, and made its way over into the movie theatres. Not all were happy about this transition but perhaps my favorite comment on it comes from the LA Times in 1920: “The king of instruments has, after a thousand odd years of stately existence, taken on a livelier air, for all the world like a gray-haired bachelor scientist who suddenly learns to flirt”. What an image. Folks in a large city going to see the latest Charlie Chaplin would have been treated to a full theatre orchestra to accompany the film. Organs provided entertainment while the orchestra was on break. Theatres eventually did some math, and they realized that paying one organist was cheaper than paying an entire orchestra.

With organ popularity on the rise, it piqued the interest of sports arenas. In 1929, the Chicago Stadium (home to Hockey’s Chicago Blackhawks) was finished, featuring one of the largest pipe organs ever constructed with over 3,600 pipes – and was said to provide “psychological accompaniment” to the fans in attendance. It also reportedly had the volume of a 2,500 piece orchestra. I can’t verify that. I don’t even know how one would go about measuring that. Either way, this led to more NHL arenas installing organs over the next few decades.

Then in 1935, the electric, and very popular Hammond Organ made its debut as a more compact organ choice for churches, theatres, and sporting venues. Now everyone could have an organ without having to also have the space for hundreds of metal pipes. Very handy.

[Third Inning: Baseball’s First Organ]

On April 26, 1941, organist Ray Nelson became the first to play at an MLB game – entertaining fans at the Cubs/Cardinals game at Wrigley Field. Some sources say it was Roy Nelson. I can’t find a picture of either a Ray or a Roy.

According to the Chicago Tribune, he played up until the game started, but had to stop when the radio microphones were turned on, because he was playing copyrighted music. He played for 2 days, then the team went on a road trip. He promised when they returned, he would introduce the new Cubs theme song: “When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Tulsa.” Admittedly, a confusing theme song for a team from Chicago. Something the Tribune seemed to recognize, because they asked for audience participation in coming up with a new title.

Unfortunately for the city of Chicago, when the Cubs returned home on May 13, the organ had inexplicably been removed. (Insert “bum-bum-BUM” Mystery Sound Effect Here)

[Fourth Inning: Baseball’s First Full-Time Organist]

In 1942, the Brooklyn Dodgers hired Gladys Goodding to play organ during their ballgames. Sorry, that’s not accurate enough. Let me explain. Goodding had already been playing for the Knicks and Rangers games in Madison Square Garden. Gladys felt like she should play for the Dodgers too. So, this absolute legend just wrote to the owner of the Dodgers and asked to be hired as their organist. And he said yes, making Goodding the first full-time organist in the MLB.

Goodding’s signature style quickly became a hit with baseball fans. Not content to simply be background noise, she would often play songs as commentary to the game. Like the one time she trolled the umpires with “Three Blind Mice” after a bad call. Which is just brilliant. Or, playing sad songs after a Dodgers loss. She would eventually write the Dodger’s fight song, called Follow the Dodgers.

Goodding would be followed by other legendary baseball organists, as the organ in baseball would reach its heights in the 60s and 70s, such as Eddie Layton, Nancy Faust, and Jane Jarvis, who reportedly stopped a fight between players when she played the Star-Spangled Banner.

[Fifth Inning: Take Me Out To The Ball Game]

Of course, we can’t talk about baseball and the organ without talking about Baseball’s National Anthem, which fans typically sing at every game...most usually led by the organ.

In 1908, Lyricist Jack Norworth was inspired to write the song after seeing an ad for a game while on the NYC subway – but that’s probably not entirely true. There are actually two verses and a chorus to the song – which tell the story of Katie Casey who is an avid baseball fan, and insists that her boyfriend take her to the ball game and not a show. I had not heard the verses before making this video. Norworth collaborated with composer Albert Von Tilzer to finish the song...despite neither of them having attended a baseball game at the time...which may explain the inclusion of Cracker Jacks in the song – which confused even the Library of Congress.

Let me know in the comments if you have ever eaten Cracker Jacks at a baseball game, because I have gone to at least 1 MLB game for the last 25 years and countless minor league, and college games, and never once have I eaten a Cracker Jack at the ballpark. But I suppose “Buy me some hot dogs and an $8 Coke” just didn’t have the same ring. Either way, it appears from the historical record that Cracker Jacks became popular at baseball games because of the song.

 The first recording of the song also came in 1908, and the song was originally used in Vaudeville shows – with the first known instance of it being played at a baseball game not even coming until 1934 – a high school game in California. It would later be played during game 4 of the World series that year. The song was played by the St. Louis band, and led by its third baseman. The Cardinals would lose that game 10-4, leading the LA Times to write that the Cardinals pitchers should have sung “Take me Out of the Ballgame”. Which is just a fantastic burn. We’re talking thousands of retweets. I would have retweeted it.

[Seventh Inning: The Seventh Inning Stretch]

Pretty much every single 9-inning baseball game, at least in the United States, will feature Take Me Out To The Ballgame during the seventh-inning stretch – which is exactly what it sounds like. A stretch that happens in the middle of the 7th inning. The players already stretched before the game, so this stretch is for the crowd. Makes sense, baseball is a long game full of lots of sitting down.

How did this tradition start? No one is really sure. It’s possible that the 7th inning was chosen for luck. That seems believable enough with all of baseball’s other superstitions. There are a lot of stories floating around out there. One story says that the crowd was getting restless, so they stopped the game to have everyone stretch – that was back in the 1800s. Another story says that President Taft was attending a Washington Senators game for Opening day in 1910, when he got tired of sitting during the 7th inning and stood up, causing the crowd to also stand up out of respect. It’s another one of those Hallelujah Chorus/King stood up story. If this story is true, it probably still isn’t the reason the 7th inning stretch began. Essentially, baseball is really long. People want to stand up.

[Eighth Inning: Becoming a Baseball Tradition]

So that leaves the question: How did Take me out to the ball game take over every single 7th inning stretch? The first time we see it in writing comes from the Chicago Tribune in 1945 who said that the song would come through every PA system in every Pacific Coast League park during the 7th inning stretch. But, despite its incredible popularity, with over 1 million sales by its 50th anniversary in 1958, it was only listed as being heard in every ballpark “dozens” of times. Not hundreds, suggesting that the song wasn’t played every day at the time. Some baseball fans felt “we’re already at the ball game, why sing take me out to the ball game?” A 1959 letter to the editor of the LA Times said that when the song is played at baseball games, it’s the music that’s played, not the words.

But through the 70s, the song gained traction in the 7th inning stretch – perhaps the biggest catalyst being announcer Harry Carey. While he is probably remembered most for his time with the Cubs, at the time he was doing play-by-play for the White Sox – when the White Sox owner took note that Carey would belt a solo a cappella rendition of the song every 7th inning stretch. The owner planted a microphone in the booth, broadcasting Carey’s singing to the crowd.

[Ninth Inning: Decline and Rebirth]

The 60s and 70s would prove to be the height of organ playing in baseball. The Organ began to see a decline in the 80s, as teams opted to play recordings of popular songs – some teams getting rid of a live organ player altogether. It is now customary for each player to select the music that plays as they enter the batter’s box – and sure, hearing Metallica played on the organ probably loses some of its impact.

But the tradition may be making a comeback as both the Marlins and the Rangers have hired organists in recent years – and the majority of major league teams still have an organist on staff. While each organist has their own style, many organists continue in Goodding’s path, providing entertainment and snarky musical commentary during the game. I can tell you from personal experience that the Braves’ organist will play Farmer in the Dell every time Reds’ Catcher Kyle Farmer comes to the plate. Point being, while recorded music has increased in popularity, it still coexists with the organ at the ballpark. One notable exception is Wrigley field, where it all began. The Cubs keep recorded music to a minimum, in favor of more airtime for the organ.

So, to recap: the organ became a fixture in baseball due to its creative organists who heightened the fan experience, a song led by the organ that was written by two guys who had never been to a baseball game, and the need for fans to take a break because it’s hard to sit down for over three hours.