Nancy and I celebrated the interview at our local, Half Sour. (Photo: Joe Jenkins.)

At this time one week ago I was in a StoryCorps booth in Chicago interviewing renowned retired White Sox baseball organist Nancy Faust. A producer at StoryCorps Headquarters in New York City had been hounding Nancy for months,  urging her to get in a StoryCorps booth to record her story.

StoryCorps is a non-profit that was set up to “record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives,” and Nancy had no idea why a radio producer in New York City would take such interest in a Chicago baseball organist. “My life story is not that interesting,” she told me. “What would I say?” The NYC producers kept hounding her, though, and she finally told them she’d to it “as long as my friend Beth Finke can be the one doing the interview.”

How about that?

Aside from their studio in New York City, StoryCorps only has two satellite sites: one in Atlanta and the other in Chicago. We asked sound producers at the Chicago site if they knew why StoryCorps Headquarters in NYC had taken such a big interest in Nancy. They didn’t know. But when that happens, they said it means the piece is very likely to be produced into something that will air nationwide on NPR.

How about that?

I’ve done a couple StoryCorps interviews with writers from my memoir classes before, but this one was different. The NYC producer called me ahead of time to check me out, and to let me know they’d be emailing me specific questions to ask Nancy during the interview.

I had to explain I wouldn’t be able to read a list of questions while we were recording, and she was reassuring. “Do your best to memorize them ahead of time,” she said. And if you forget some, that’s okay, too.” Know what? Last week in that recording booth, Nancy Faust and I hit it outta the park! You’re all going to have to wait until the interview airs to hear our answers. Trust me, I’ll let you know if/when it really does get scheduled on NPR, but to whet your appetite, hear are the questions they requested:

Beth to ask Nancy:

How did you feel about baseball (or sports in general) when you were growing up?

Can you tell me the story about how you learned to play the organ?

What did you want to be when you grew up?

Tell me about how you ended up getting the organist job with the White Sox?

What was your first day playing for the White Sox like?

How did you come up with songs for players?

Do you have any song choices you’re especially proud of? Are there any song choices that you regret?

Tell me about the first time you used “Na Na, Hey Hey Goodbye.”

Tell me about the most memorable game you ever played at.

What were the White Sox fans like?

Are there any fans who’ve made an impact on you? People you still keep in touch with?

Can you talk about the most difficult part of doing this job?

Why did you decide to retire?

What do you miss most about the job?

What was your last day at the White Sox like?

What lessons has your time at the White Sox taught you?

How would you like to be remembered?

Nancy to ask Beth:

How did we meet?

How would you describe me?

How did you feel about baseball (or sports in general) when you were growing up?

Did you ever come to a White Sox game and see me play?

Were there any song choices of mine that you liked? Ones that you didn’t like?

If you could pick songs for me to play at a game, what would you choose?
What does baseball mean to you now?

Is there something about me that you’ve always wanted to know but have never asked?

The 2018 baseball All-Star game is over now, so on to more important things: retired White Sox organist Nancy Faust is heading to Pasadena to be inducted into Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals!

What? You never heard of the Baseball Reliquary? Me neither. But thanks to an article about Nancy Faust in the Cook County Chronicle, I understand it’s quite an honor: Nancy will be inducted this year along with former White Sox pitcher Tommy John, known more for the arm surgery named after him than his pitching statistics, and the family of baseball veteran and humanitarian Rusty Staub, who died earlier this year. The Baseball Reliquary honors individuals based on:

• the distinctiveness of play (good or bad), or
• the uniqueness of character and personality, or
• the imprint that the individual has made on the baseball landscape.

The Cook County Chronicle article said Members of the Baseball Reliquary called Nancy Faust “without question, the most famous ballpark organist of the past half-century.”

Me and Mike with Nancy Faust during happy hour at the Green Mill. Nancy showed Mike her World Series ring–and yes, he did eventually let go of it.

Nancy and I have become friends over the years. She and Joe come to many of my book-related gigs, and we like to meet her with Joe and their son Eric to hear Chris Foreman playing the organ at Chicago’s Green Mill. Last time we were there, she told me how fortunate she feels to have been born with perfect pitch. “I’ve been playing by ear ever since I was a little girl.” To prove her point, she turned toward the Hammond B3 playing behind us. “Like right now,” she said. “He’s playing in the key of F.” Nancy’s mother was a professional musician, and Nancy’s father owned a business renting organs to music clubs, bars and civic groups in Chicago when Nancy was growing up — Joe eventually took over that business .

Nancy Faust retired from the White Sox in 2010, and I understand that after 41 years, 13 managers and a World Series title, it was a well-deserved retirement. Still, I couldn’t help but get nostalgic reading a list in the Cook County Chronicle article of Nancy Faust’s golden moments at the keyboard — she said one of her personal favorites came in the 1970s when a male streaker crossed the field and she thought to play, “Is That All There Is?”

But times have changed. Technology and scoreboards with video replays have diminished the organ’s role in major league baseball. maybe Nancy was right to retire when she did. From the article:

The Mundelein resident said the focus has changed in the past 20 years with players wanting to hear certain songs. She said the races and other entertainment between half-innings compete for time.

“There’s just not time to do too much now,” Faust said. “The organ can still have a presence, but it’s not necessary anymore. There was more time years ago…now that time is used for a dot race or a commercial. Plus, they are trying to keep the game going now. People’s attention spans are not what they used to be, the luxury of time is no longer there.”

I have to agree. visits to the ballpark the past eight years just haven’t been as fun. Not because the team is doing poorly, I just miss the untraditional songs Nancy played –they helped me follow the game. And for that alone, she deserves her Spot in the Shrine of Eternals. Nancy says she’s thrilled that the Reliquary is flying her and Joe to Pasadena this week for the induction. As she told the Cook County Chronicle reporter, “It’s the only organization that recognizes people who made an impact on the game, but not in traditional ways.”

I wrote here last month about my friend (and baseball organist) Nancy Faust donating her home practice organ to an auction benefiting Chicago White Sox Charities. Boston Red Sox organist Josh Kantor placed the winning bid on the Hammond Elegante Model 340100, and earlier this month a slew of his Chicago musician friends picked up a rental van in Chicago to deliver it to Kantor in Boston.

The organ juuusssst barely fit in the van.

The musicians took a pit stop at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown along the way, and a story in the Chicago Reader this month reported that the trip almost didn’t happen at all: They measured ahead of time, but when they got the rental van, the organ didn’t fit. “The crew managed to Tetris it inside,” the story said. Singer Kelly Hogan was on the moving crew and told the reporter that the musicians who drove the organ to Boston all have many, many miles in band vans between them, and that it was “pretty normal” to be resting her arm on an organ as they were traveling.

The story said Josh Kantor was overwhelmed by the scores of people who called and e-mailed and texted him asking what they could do to help get the organ to his home in Boston. “A friend sawed a metal railing off the entrance of Kantor’s house so the organ could be moved inside,” the story said. “Another donated a Nancy Faust bobblehead, which became a focal point of videos documenting the trek.”

Nancy was vacationing with her husband Joe in the Southwest while the organ transplant took place, but she emailed me a few times to send clips of stories and interviews with Josh Kantor about his new musical Instrument. “Here is a link to this morning’s interview on 670 the score with Josh Kantor who bought the organ,” one note read.  “What a gracious guy. The ballpark has enabled me to meet the nicest people.”

Nancy sent me the Chicago Reader article I’ve been quoting in this blog post, too, along with another note. “Hi Beth, This is a rather long, very inclusive account from today’s Reader about my ‘organ transplant,’” she wrote. “Josh Kantor has been far too kind but hopefully gained the best memories, friendship bonds, and the Red Sox recognition from the whole adventure. Love, Nancy.”

Me and Mike with Nancy Faust at the Green Mill awhile back. Nancy showed Mike her World Series ring.

The Nancy Faust-Josh Kantor mutual admiration society was formed when Kantor was hired as Red Sox organist in 2003. Over drinks and Hammond B3 music at the Green Mill in Chicago last month, Nancy told me how Josh flew to Chicago to see her when he got that job at Fenway. “He spent the day with me,” she said, and that story in the Chicago Reader quotes Kantor saying, “That was one of my favorite days ever!”

Kantor told the reporter that during that visit, among other things, Nancy urged him to keep updating his repertoire. “If you want to do this for a long time and not turn into a dinosaur like a lot of other organists have, keep learning new songs.” More from the Chicago Reader story:

His fascination with her process helps explain why he was so interested in purchasing this particular organ. “To me, the organ that was in her home for 35 years, that was her practice instrument, was as interesting—if not more interesting—because that was the lab instrument, basically. That was where she did all her homework,” he says, laughing. “That was where she concocted all her genius.”

Baseball organists are a dying breed – MLB reports fewer than a dozen ballparks still hire organists, and many of the musicians are only allowed to play a few times throughout the game and “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in the seventh inning. The Chicago Reader story called Kantor one of the “most vocal proponents of organ music and its role in baseball,” and it sounds to me like he’s doing a great job. He couldn’t help but notice how open and accessible Nancy Faust was to fans at White Sox Park, and he said he tries to do the same, with a modern twist: He takes song requests via Twitter (@jtkantor) at Fenway.

Retired White Sox organist Nancy Faust donated her own personal Hammond organ to White Sox Charities for their holiday garage sale, which was held yesterday. Nancy and I have become friends over the years, and she told Mike and me about her “organ donation” a few weeks ago when we joined her along with her husband Joe Jenkins and their son Eric for happy hour to hear Chris Foreman on the Green Mill Jazz Club’s Hammond B3.

Me and Mike with Nancy Faust at the Green Mill. Nancy showed Mike her World Series ring–and yes, he did eventually let go of it.

“The one I’m donating is a Hammond Elegante,” she said, assuring me that she and Joe still own a number of organs so she’ll have a way to play at home when she gets the urge. Nancy’s mother was a professional musician, and Nancy’s father owned a business renting organs to music clubs, bars and civic groups in Chicago when Nancy was growing up. Her husband Joe eventually took over that business, and he’s retired now, too. “I was lucky to be born with perfect pitch,” she told me. “I’ve been playing by ear ever since I was a little girl,” To prove her point, she turned toward the Hammond B3 playing behind us. “Like right now,” she said. “He’s playing in the key of F.”

We all had a fantastic time together at the Green Mill, and back home I looked up Nancy’s donation on an MLB site:

This organ is a Hammond Elegante Model 340100. Nancy was the White Sox organist for four decades from 1970 – 2010. This organ is Nancy’s personal organ from her home. She has autographed the music rack.

Hmm. The wheels started turning. I can play piano. Could I play the organ? Even if I couldn’t play it, wouldn’t it be cool to own one? And wouldn’t it be especially cool if it had once belonged to White Sox organist Nancy Faust? But wait, there’s more: the money spent on the organ all goes to charity!

The MLB site said the opening bid would be $1000 and gave the organ’s dimensions as 53 inches tall and 55 inches wide. That wide? Almost six feet, right? We already have a grand piano, an upright string bass, a guitar, an accordion, drums and various percussion instruments squeezed into our living room. Our apartment really isn’t big enough for a Hammond organ. But we could always get rid of the couch, right?

About the time I was getting serious about this — and Mike was getting nervous — we were happily distracted by a visit to our dear friend Lydia. She moved away from Chicago a few months ago to take a job writing for the Harvard Alumni Magazine. It’s a great job in a very cool town. We knew we’d miss her, though, so we made arrangements long ago to fly to Boston to spend these past couple days with her in Cambridge. We walked and laughed and hung out and shared stories and ate lots and lots of oysters. To Mike’s great relief, all thoughts of bidding on the organ went out the window, and by the time we landed back at Midway, the bidding had closed.

This just in: MLB reports that “the organ, put up for sale by the Chicago White Sox during their annual holiday sale for charity on Saturday, was purchased by Josh Kantor, the popular organist for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.” Fantastic to know it will be quite literally, in good hands.

• Hammond Elegante Model 340100: $1000+.
• Friendships with Lydia and Nancy: Priceless.

And if you want to see and hear Nancy talk about her donation, check out the video clip below:
[mlbvideo id=”533078483″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]

In case you missed it, my friend Nancy Faust was featured in an article in last Sunday’s New York Times. Wow. What a fantastic lead sentence to this blog post. What is astounding about that sentence is not that the retired White Sox organist was featured in The Times, but that I can honestly and sincerely call a famous and talented woman like her my friend.

Nancy graciously took time out on her last day at White Sox Park to talk with me (and Hanni, of course).

Nancy comes to my book events when she can. These days I go to hear her play at venues outside of White Sox Park and spend time between tunes talking politics with her husband Joe. She and I keep in touch via email, and she follows our Safe & Sound blog, too – hi, Nancy!

Nancy Faust retired from the White Sox in 2010, and after 41 years, 13 managers and a World Series title, it’s a well-deserved retirement. Still, I gotta say, visits to the ballpark the past five years just haven’t been as fun as they used to be. It’s not that the team is doing poorly – a baseball fan gets used to that – I just miss the way Nancy played the organ during games.

My relationship with Nancy Faust started on that summer day in 1985 when my eye surgeon told Mike and me that none of the surgeries they tried had worked. The two of us were uncharacteristically silent as we started home, until we got to Comiskey Park and Mike noticed the White Sox were playing. “Wanna go?”

Going to a ballgame after learning I’d be blind for the rest of my life might sound like a strange thing to do, but it beat heading home and sitting on our pitiful second-hand couch and wondering where to turn next. “Between bites and gulps and giving me play by play, Mike bantered with other fans, cursing the underachievers on the team,” I wrote in my memoir, Long Time, No See. “I laughed at the tunes selected by Nancy Faust, the Sox organist-she’s famous for picking songs that play on player’s names.”
I stopped by Nancy Faust’s booth at White Sox Park in 2003 after Long Time, No See was published to sign a copy for her. She was tickled to see her name right there in print in my memoir, and I was tickled to have the opportunity to thank her personally for helping me track what was happening on the field. A friendship was born. Now, a dozen years later, Sunday’s New York Times article credited Nancy Faust for reinventing the role of a ballpark organist by incorporating rock and pop songs into her repertoire:

Faust played songs for the fans, for the moment. She did not think players found her music helpful; they had enough to worry about, she thought.

“I didn’t do it for the player; I was there for the enjoyment of the fans,” Faust said.

And boy oh boy, did I enjoy it. When Nancy Faust was at the organ and played Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line,” I knew it was ball four. When she played Michael Jackson’s “Somebody’s Watching me,” I knew there’d been a pickoff throw. If she played The Kinks “You Really Got me,” I knew the pick-off play was a success.

Nancy helped me identify who was batting by teasing the player’s name with a tune. Mike’s all-time favorite was the one for Gary Disarcina. No, it wasn’t “Gary, Indiana” from the Music Man. That is wayyyy too obvious. It was “Have you Seen Her?” by the Chi-Lites. As for me, I always loved it when Travis Hafner was in town. At the last Cleveland Indians game I went to, she played “Bunny Hop” for his first at bat, and then J. Geils “Centerfold” “his next time up.

Now this Sunday New York Times story tells me we have Hafner’s Cleveland Indians to blame for the obnoxious loud rock music we hear over the speakers during ballgames – Cleveland was the first MLB team to let their players choose their own walk-up songs. Nancy Faust was still playing for the White Sox when that started happening, and from that point on they had her play walk-up music on the organ only for opposing players. A stadium D.J. controlled the songs for White Sox players from then on. The Sunday New York Times article was about the “surprisingly long, intricate history of walk-up music,” and I absolutely loved this part where Nancy Faust likens the DJ recorded versions as Musical Selfies:

This new approach, she said, eliminated spontaneity, and maybe enthusiasm. “If you have momentum going, and you’ve got three guys on base and the next guy comes up to bat, and you’ve got the fans going crazy — and it all stops to listen to what I might liken to a musical selfie?” Faust said. “It just stops the momentum. And then you’ve got to hope you can get it going again.”

I know what she means. I sure have had trouble getting my Major League Baseball momentum going again since Nancy Faust left in 2010. The article reports on how she retired to fanfare — the White Sox unveiled a plaque for her at a ceremony before one of her final games, and Nancy Faust bobbleheads were handed out the same day. The New York Times said, “Faust, who grew up in Chicago and still lives there, had become a White Sox icon.”

I’m glad the New York Times had the wisdom to interview her for Sunday’s story, and I can only imagine the tune she is playing in her head as she reads this blog post of mine. Rolling Stones “Miss you,” perhaps?