Gary Pressy

THIS MUCH I KNOW | Wrigley Field organist since 1987

June 19, 2008

INTERVIEW WITH SHAMUS TOOMEY

Wrigley Field was the first ballpark to use an organ. It was in 1941. And the organ has been an integral part of Wrigley Field since 1967.

I try to play a different song for each batter. For Alfonso Soriano, it's "Happy Days." You know, the Fonz. Aramis Ramirez, ''You're 16," because he's No. 16. For Carlos Zambrano, I like to do the bullfighting song because he's like a bull. Mark DeRosa, he's Italian, so we do a lot of Italian music. Or the song from Bonanza, "Ponderosa."

When we have runners on first and third, I play "Down on the Corner." We're not Einstein here about it.

No, there's no song that somebody tells me, don't play at all.

We've had occasions when I play Christmas songs when it was snowing. We had a squirrel come in the booth one day -- and it scared the hell out of us. That's Wrigley Field.

"Go Cubs Go." We do it on a CD, but occasionally on the organ. That's when the crowd really gets goofy and into it. I have the honor of pushing the button to put the song on. So I still am involved with it.

I enjoyed all music growing up. Obviously I like Billy Joel. I like the Supremes, because I was growing up in the late 60s, early 70s. The Beatles. The Rolling Stones. And then later on in life, Barry Manilow. Ha! Barry Manilow. And I like old fashioned Big Band music.

There are a few organists that I really enjoy. Ernie Hayes from the St. Louis Cardinals. Also the organist in Pittsburgh, Vince Lascheid. And of course, in our own city of Chicago, Nancy Faust. She's one of the greatest. And yes, she and I do get along.

The last foul ball we had up here broke the fax machine.

They come up and we go through a little rehearsal for ''Take Me Out to the Ball Game,'' which is great. I get a chance to really meet them. It's amazing, because some of these people who you wouldn't expect to be nervous because they perform before crowds are nervous. I tell them, "Just have fun."

They say, "What key should I sing it in?" If it's a professional singer, then I will find their key. But usually we do it in the key of D. That's what it was written in.

One of the greatest people to sing was Vin Scully, the Hall of Fame Dodger announcer. He must have been an Irish tenor, because man, he did so well.

I did play at a church wedding once. The request was to play "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

When I was kid, I would hear the organ in the background at all the ballparks, all the hockey rinks. "Gee, I would like to do that." Now I've done over 1,700 games. Haven't missed a game. The streak is on!

One great honor I did get was to play the organ for Jack Brickhouse's funeral. I played the song, "The Impossible Dream," and I also played "Hey, Hey Holy Mackerel" when they rolled the casket out.

Quick story. In 1990, we had a rain delay here against the Atlanta Braves. The game was supposed to start at 1:20 and it was called off at 3 o'clock. So, I was doing my stuff. Don Sutton, the Hall of Famer, was doing the broadcast for the Braves. He said "You've been named player of the game. We're going to send you a watch." Six weeks later, here comes a Wittnauer watch, a gold watch, engraved, saying "Star of the Game, Atlanta Braves." Wow.

The only song that I would love to play, on a CD or on the organ, is "We Are the Champions." I think that would be great.