Audio Clips: Play Ball!

There's something about early spring that takes me out to the ballgame. I haven't been to a ballpark in years, but when I recall going to games at Yankee Stadium when I was a kid, I recall the overwhelming fragrance of hot dogs, the sticky taste of Cracker Jack and the sound of the organ playing something swift and skippy.

Naturally, I still love the sound of ballpark keyboards, provided they swing. Too many organists today play rock hits, but these songs never quite sound as much fun as when the stadium player is jazzing up show tunes. There also needs to be drama, a walking bass line and easy-going improvisation. Since it's Friday and it's going to snow again in New York this weekend, I put together a bunch of clips of stadium organists with hopes of ushering winter out and spring in. Now I just need a pair of boiled dogs with mustard and caramel popcorn on my desk to complete the sensory trip back in time.

Let's open with Nancy Bea Heffley, the legendary Dodgers organist...



Here's the Eddie Layton of the Yankees playing Ya Gotta Have Heart...



Here's Shea Stadium's Jane Jarvis playing Meet the Mets...



Here's Detroit Tigers pitcher and keyboardist Denny McLain playing The Girl From Ipanema and Meditation in 1967...



Here's 30 minutes of stadium organ by the Red Sox John Kiley in 1966...



Here's a minor league organist getting thrown out of a game. Before you click, try to guess what song he played that so enraged the umpire...



Here's Ernie Hays at the Cardinals' Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Given the size of the crowds, it's about as close as these guys came to feeling like rock stars...



And here's Eddie Layton playing New York, New York...