Music is a heart-warming part of the baseball tradition, as anyone who has sung along to “Take me out to the ballgame” can tell you. In the July / August 2011 issue of Making Music, we interview several major league ballpark organists who are keeping live performance part of that tradition.

Interested in this line of work? Click for more information on openings as an MLB team organist.

Josh Kantor, 38
Best ballpark memory: “From childhood, there are too many to name. From adulthood, it would be the 2004 playoffs.”

Josh Kantor has proudly served as organist for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park since 2003, where he performs on a Yamaha Electone AR-100. Aside from his job at the ballpark, Kantor works as a librarian and enjoys playing, recording, and composing music with friends. A true multi-instrumentalist he also plays piano, accordion, upright bass, guitar, banjo, melodica, and harmonica.

This spring Kantor also performed on several ESPN SportsCenter broadcasts and at Austin’s South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in a handful of concerts with the indie-rock group The Baseball Project, featuring Steve Wynn, Scott McCaughey, Linda Pitmon, and Peter Buck.

Kantor has also contributed to many CD recordings, scored several short films, and plays piano, organ, and accordion in the band Jim’s Big Ego.

Lori Moreland, 52
Best ballpark memory: “Watching my children having a blast on Kids Day at the baseball park.”

Lori Moreland became organist for the Chicago White Sox this spring, following the retirement of the team’s longtime organist Nancy Faust. She is also organist for Our Lady of Knock Roman Catholic Church in Calumet City, Illinois.

Moreland, who began playing organ at age seven, says that “My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)” is her favorite ballpark song. At home, in Crete, Illinois, she plays a Roland EP85 electric piano, a Yamaha E5 organ, and a Yamaha PSR keyboard. The Cellular Field instrument is a Technics.

Moreland has been a three-time Mid-West representative for the National Yamaha Competition, securing the second place spot for two consecutive years.

When not making music, Moreland also enjoys reading, watching sporting events, and traveling with her husband, John, and her two sons, John and Scott.

Ed Alstrom, 53
Best ballpark memory: “Being in the crowd for the Yankees World Series clinching win in 2009. It was not so bad not having to work that night!”

Ed Alstrom shares the job of Yankees organist with Paul Cartier. Alstrom works mainly the weekend games, while Cartier works the weekday games.

“Anytime I’m there playing the organ, pumping up the crowd for rallies, and listening to 50,000 people singing along when playing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ (click to download sheetmusic) it is quite a thrill,” says Alstrom. Aside from pumping up fans at Yankee Stadium, he works all types of musical gigs, from church music director, to conducting and directing musical shows

Alstrom has recorded three CDs, including an organ CD called Gettin’ Organized. He also plays in the vintage R&B band Harmonious Five. “Music is not only my full-time job, but my favorite hobby - other than watching baseball,” he says.

Dean Rosko
What is his best ballpark memory?
“When Trevor Hoffman set the new record for all-time saves. Watching a living legend like Hoffman do something no one else has ever done was pretty awesome!”

At 27-years-old, Dean Rosko is enjoying his ninth season at Miller Park, playing for the Brewers. He also is principle organist and associate director of music for St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church and associate organist at Organ Piper Music Palace in Greenfield.

At home, Rosko collects and restores vintage organs, and has a number of Hammonds. At Miller Park he plays a Lowrey Prestige. “All of the sythesized orchestral sounds are as good or better than what is available on most synthesizers, but yet it still does a great job with the organ tone.”

Gary Pressy, 53
Best ballpark memory: “The 1990 All-Star game, the 1998 Wild Card game when we beat the Giants, and the 2003 game when we made it to the NLC. Also, we had our first night game 8/8/88, and even though it rained after three innings, it was still exciting.”

Gary Pressy has been living out his childhood dream of being a ballpark organist for the past 25 years. August 9th will be his 2,000th game. “I used to go out in the back yard and hum tunes while playing baseball,” says Pressy, who began playing piano at age five, switching to organ six months later.

Pressy also works for Lowrey Organs doing promotions in the Illinois stores, so it’s no surprise that he plays on a Lowrey both at work and at home. The Wrigley Field model is a Legacy and Pressy has a Parade at home.

Pressy says his favorite ballpark song is the always popular and often requested Chicago Cubs fight song “Hey, Hey, Holy Mackeral,” written and first performed by Johnny Frigo in 1969.

Dick “Janz” Jankowski, 70
Best ballpark memory: “Seeing a perfect game pitched by Roy Halladay in 2010.”

Dick “Janz” Jankowski, of Orlando, Florida, has been ballpark organist for the Florida Marlins since the team was established in 1993. At the Marlin’s Sun Life Stadium he performs on a Casio CTK-620L Midi keyboard with rhythm.

During the off-season, Janz sings and plays keyboard at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. He also plays organ and bass guitar at his church on Sundays. Fittingly, in his free time, he collects baseball cards. He’s been married to his wife, Marilyn, for 47 years and together they have three daughters and four grandchildren.

John Schutte, 46
Best ballpark memory: “One of my first games as organist was on Mother’s Day. My family was there and while I was playing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame,’ the crew split the scoreboard in half showing me on one half and my family singing on the other.”

John Schutte is in his second season as organist for the Cincinnati Reds, but the team’s tradition of using an organist started long before. “There was an organ at Cincinnati’s old Crosley Field, so I would guess we’ve had organists since at least the ’50s,” he says. The ballpark’s current organ is a Baldwin Super Pro 222 built in Cincinnati.

Schutte, who is also a full-time firefighter and paramedic, has collected quite a few musical instruments over the years. “Ask my wife and she’ll tell you I have one of everything,” he says.

Schutte is also a member of the rock cover band The Rusty Griswolds. Since becoming the Reds’ organist, he has focused on widening the appeal of the ballpark organ by adapting rock for organ and bringing in synthesizers and drum machines to expand the number and types of sounds available.

Paul Cartier, 52
Best ballpark memory: “When the Yankees clinched the Championship in 2009. At the end of the game I just sat there and took it all in - the crowd, the players, the celebration, and eventually, the Championship Parade in NYC. So surreal!”

Paul Cartier has shared the position of organist for the New York Yankees with Ed Astrom for the past eight seasons. Cartier works the weekday games. Astrom works the weekend games, while Cartier works his other full-time job as an air traffic controller for the FAA.

Cartier first began playing organ at age 10. At home, he's set up an exact replica of what he performs on at Yankee Stadium - a Hammond Elegante organ with a Yamaha Tyros. “I also have a Roland electric piano right next to it,” he adds.

Nancy Bea Hefley, 39+
Best ballpark memory: “The 1988 World Series with Kirk Gibson’s home run and Placido Domingo singing the anthem.”

Organist for the LA Dodgers, Nancy Bea Hefley was something a prodigy as a child. She began playing piano at age four and performed on the radio at age five. She’s entertained troops at USO shows with the accordion, accompanied singers and dancers, and even played background music for horse shows all over the US.

She has been playing for the Dodgers since 1988, where she performs on a Roland Super Spinet. In her free time she enjoys playing classical music on her piano.

Sue Nelson, 65
Best ballpark memory: “When the Twins won the last game of the season and made it to the playoffs as a wildcard. Kansas City was still in a game with Detroit. If Kansas City won, we would be in first place in the division. The game was on the big screen and I was cheerleading for Kansas as if they were my team.”

Sue Nelson became organist for the Minnesota Twins in 1999. Aside from playing for the Twins, Nelson accompanies choruses, plays in churches, and even for hockey games.

Nelson says her favorite ballpark song is “‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ of course!” Target Field is equipped with a very old Yamaha 405. “It has 12 pedals, which I use all the time, and two small keyboards. It has that classic organ sound,” she says. At home, Nelson has a Yamaha FX20 and a piano, which she plays regularly.

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