Bases

Clearing The Bases – Issue 024

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Hello and welcome to Issue 024 of Clearing The Bases, an email newsletter in conjunction with the My Baseball History podcast hosted by Dan Wallach.

On Wednesday, October 9th, Season 4 of the podcast began when our latest episode with NANCY FAUST went live. Nancy played the organ at Chicago White Sox games for 41 years, starting at the old Comiskey Park in 1970. She played at more than 3,000 games, with her last for the White Sox coming on Sunday, October 3, 2010. Nancy was not only an innovator behind the organ, but she was also incredibly reliable. Nancy did not miss a single White Sox home game from 1983 through 2005, including the 2005 World Series, which the White Sox won. After the Sox clinched the American League pennant that year, Nancy became a featured performer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Almost immediately upon her arrival at her original perch in the center field bleachers of Old Comiskey, Nancy became arguably the first sports organist to include pop and rock themes while playing during games, straying away from an organist’s typical musical choices which usually dated to the 1960s or earlier. At the beginning of her career, she was tasked with playing the song of each player’s birth state as the batter walked to the plate. But she was also given the freedom to play and respond to the crowds’ moods. In her second season as the team’s organist, her shyness waned.

Nancy carried a radio out with her and tied creative tunes from TV commercials or popular songs to the players and game situations, as well as to the conversations happening on the radio broadcast. She swiftly made a name for herself due to her fast thinking, quick wit, sense of humor, and brilliant musicianship. Before long, Nancy, herself, became a major entertainment force, an attraction at the ballpark, and a fan favorite.

Nancy has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America and was written up in Sports Illustrated as baseball’s “MVO, or Most Valuable Organist.” She was awarded an RIAA gold record from Mercury Records and has been celebrated with multiple days at the ballpark specifically honoring her. Ten thousand Nancy Faust bobblehead dolls were presented to fans by the White Sox before their game on September 18, 2010, just two weeks before her retirement. Nancy has contributed organ pieces to the podcast edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and she was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals in 2018. Her talents and contribution to the game are even recognized in an exhibit at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown called “Women in Baseball.”

In this episode, we cover LOTS of ground.

Nancy tells us her process of picking songs to play during games, giving us great insight into how her brain works, essentially playing a never-ending game of musical word association.

We find out how a fun little custom between her and White Sox broadcaster Harry Caray eventually turned into a deeply rooted tradition that is still practiced at nearly every level of baseball nationwide.

We learn the real story about how Nancy popularized the song “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” which – if you’ve been to almost any sporting event in the past four and a half decades – you’ve surely heard as a way to taunt the opposing team.

And we hear the numerous other teams in addition to the White Sox which Nancy has played for during her illustrious career, across multiple sports, both collegiate and professional.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the episode is out now, so you can listen to it as soon as you get done reading this email and re-listen whenever you want after that. Don’t forget to CLICK HERE to follow along with the liner notes as you listen.

The liner notes have over 100 specifically curated photos and videos which directly and chronologically follow the conversation Nancy and I had. In the caption for each, I also included extra links so you can do a deeper dive into any particular person or story that piques your interest as you listen. It’s always interesting for me to hear how listeners interact with the liner notes. I had a friend recently tell me that he liked to go through the liner notes before listening to an episode, so he knew what was coming up. Personally, I wouldn’t want the surprises spoiled, but I’m just glad you all are using the liner notes and finding them so helpful!

I also want to let you know about an opportunity to win a very special vinyl record called Nancy Faust Presents: Crowd Pleasing Favorites, which was Nancy’s second album. It was recorded live at Comiskey Park and released in 1983. This album will put you in a box seat as you sing along with thousands at the 7th Inning Stretch to “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.” You’ll follow every step of the opposing manager as he marches to the mound to dismiss his pitcher. Recall the thrill of singing Nancy’s gold-record-winning refrain of “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” to the humiliated pitcher as he leaves the game. Then join the spirited crowd singing “Runaround Sue” as the new pitcher warms up. As if that wasn’t enough to take you back in time to what it was like to be at Old Comiskey Park, the first song on Side Two is “Rosanna”, complete with an intro from Andy The Clown, who was a mainstay at the Baseball Palace of the World.

I have a huge vinyl record collection, with nearly 100 records being specifically baseball-related. Luckily, I have had a copy of this album in my own collection for years, because they’re pretty hard to track down at this point, more than 40 years after its release. Nancy was gracious enough to give me another copy to use for this giveaway when we recorded our interview, so one lucky listener will win a really great prize!

You can enter for your chance to win by following @shoelesspodcast on Twitter and re-tweeting the pinned tweet at the top of our profile which mentions the latest episode with Nancy. That tweet asks a trivia question which is answered during the episode. Answer that trivia question correctly with your re-tweet, and you’re automatically entered into the contest. We’ll pick a winner before the next episode of the podcast goes live on Wednesday, November 13th. All you have to do to be considered is follow us on Twitter and retweet that pinned tweet before then but feel free to tag a friend in the comments or write why you think you should win. It may help your chances of winning…

This episode with Nancy was the first episode of Season 4 of My Baseball History after I took the summer off to do some traveling and go on a couple of baseball-related road trips. This past June, I went on a road trip to see the GroveWood Baseball Museum in Eastern Tennessee. It’s the brainchild of owner and curator Jamison Pack, who wanted a place to share his incredible personal baseball collection, which he has been amassing since he was a little kid. The museum’s slogan is “A Collection That Connects Us” and that’s exactly what Jamison has built there.

When you plan your trip, you can expect to see some truly historic artifacts, from a game ball used during Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak to home run balls from both Lou Gehrig’s and Babe Ruth’s record-setting 1927 season. GroveWood has more than just Yankees artifacts, though.

The museum is home to more than 1,000 authentic items, displayed across about a dozen exhibits. There are pieces dating back to the Civil War era, and all the way up through the early 2000s. From game-used bats of Ty Cobb and Roberto Clemente to a ball used in Smoky Joe Wood’s no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns on July 29, 1911. The museum even has the catcher’s mitt of 1926 National League MVP Bob O’Farrell, who was wearing it for the final out of the 1926 World Series when he threw out Babe Ruth, who was trying to steal second base.

I could go on and on, but I’d rather let you go to the GroveWood Baseball Museum so you can experience it all for yourself. Follow them on Instagram @GroveWoodBaseballMuseum, and find them on Facebook, too. You should also head to their website, GroveWoodBaseball.com, where you can buy merch and sign up for their email newsletter so you can be the first to know about the monthly events the museum hosts with former players and guest speakers. And, you didn’t hear this from me, but something tells me that by the end of the year, there’s going to be a pretty big announcement from Jamison that you won’t want to miss.

Okay, one last thing. This Sunday is the anniversary of Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run to win Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. Every October 13th, a group of fans assemble at the former site of Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and listen to the radio broadcast of the game. It’s something I’ve wanted to experience since the first time I heard about them doing this, and I decided that this is the year I’ll go. They start listening at about 1:00 pm, so if you’d like to join me and everyone else, please come along! It’s free to anyone who wants to show up, but there are no seats or anything, so bring your own chairs, your own blankets, and your own food and drinks. Hope to see you there!

Don’t forget, it’s a huge help when you Rate and Review the podcast on whatever platform you choose to listen to. 5-star ratings help our podcast get shown on more people’s suggested podcast pages, which means more people will hear our show.

It just takes a couple seconds of your time, but it really helps us a lot. And of course, liking us on social media, interacting with our posts, and sharing things with your friends is great, too. Feel free to forward this email to anyone in your life who loves baseball, and hopefully, they’ll enjoy the podcast and learn a thing or two. But no matter how you choose to support us, even if it’s just by listening, we appreciate you being here.

Until next time, I’m Dan Wallach, and this is My Baseball History.

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