Take me out to the ball game — A baseball classic is in good hands

I love this woman, Sue Nelson. Not so much the woman herself; we have never met. But I watch her most mornings. She brings a tonic to my day, a spring to my step, a smile to my face.

For over twenty-five years she has been the ballpark organist for the Minnesota Twins baseball team.

“I’m here to cheerlead and get the people clapping and get the people excited about the game,” Nelson said. “It’s just so fun . . . It’s cheerleading.”

As a native Minnesotan she has watched the Twins shine and slump. Presently the Twins are 7 wins and 12 losses (.368). They are in a race with my Toronto Blue Jays for a race to the bottom of their respective divisions. Nevertheless Sue Nelson plays on.

During my own university music studies my organ teacher, Larry Cortner told our performance class that we should look out for sports jobs. During his student life he played for local hockey teams. “The money is great and you always get to play for large crowds. It’s fun,” he told us. I never did however; I was a classical snob. Imagine, playing Buxtehude for the Bruins! I’d be paid, to practice.

Watching Sue Nelson play is a real gift. She sways with the music and sings along, enjoying a piece of music she has played thousands of times. She pushes and pulls the rhythm, (agogic for classicists) prodding the crowd, then letting them catch up. Her little glissandi (a trademark of Hammond players) are so stylish. Her obvious pleasure is infectious. As a sports organist she provides a soundtrack that captures the emotional energy of the game.

One does wonder however, how she responds to bad plays or worse, bad calls. I know the story of Wilbur Snapp who during a minor league game in 1985 decided to complain musically about a bad call. His rendition of Three Blind Mice got him kicked out of the stadium.

“Since 2011, Nelson has only missed eight games due to an illness and having her appendix removed. You can find her doing what she loves inside the Twins Pub on the third level just behind home plate.” “It’s the best view in the house” she says.

So what about the song, Take me out to the Ball Game? Originally a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer it has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball. The song’s chorus is traditionally sung as part of the seventh-inning stretch of a baseball game. Fans are generally encouraged to sing along, and at many ballparks, the words “home team” are replaced with the team name.

Watching MLB games at home I rarely hear the organ play. (I have only attended one live game in Cincinnati years ago.) Introduction of the pitch clock now allows only eighteen seconds between at-bats, a discipline that has sped up the game considerably. I suspect that recordings enjoy frequent use along with endless announcements plugging swag, directing fans to ballpark amenities and experiences and promoting events.

I still go to bed some nights chanting to myself “let’s go Blue Jays.” (Eb C Eb C) Even I can play that. I would prefer however to listen to Sue Nelson in the bottom of the seventh at Minneapolis’s Target Field. Oh well, we can but dream.