The Book of Proverbs says that “before honor comes humility.”
Hawthorn Wood’s own Nancy Faust fully embodies that sign of greatness. This exceptionally gifted musician, who spent 40 years playing the organ for the Chicago White Sox, is about to be inducted into the nonprofit Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals.
Now, lest you think the Shrine is part of some far-out cult, please know that this national organization says its shrine is a similar concept to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And on July 22, Nancy, along with Tommy John and Rusty Staub, formally will be inducted in Pasadena, Calif. The three received the highest voting percentages of the 50 eligible candidates on Reliquary’s 2018 ballot.
Nancy herself ended up receiving 26.5 percent of the votes. A news release from the Baseball Reliquary states that she is “without question, the most famous ballpark organist of the past half century.”
“I was humbled to be honored,” she told me as we visited on my back deck.
Before hearing of the recognition, Nancy said she was not familiar with the Baseball Reliquary. So, she began researching the organization.
“I gained a lot of respect for their mission — recognizing aspects of a baseball game that have been impacted by people in a non-traditional way … either on or off the field.”
In Nancy’s case, she said she realizes that she is being recognized for “creating a soundtrack to the game of baseball before technology had taken over.”
She calls this time period in the ‘70s and ‘80s the “sweet spot of baseball … before scoreboards took over.”
“And we had a lot of downtime, which I was able to fill and reflect what (music) was popular at the time.”
She gives a lot of credit for her success to former White Sox owner Bill Veeck, who placed an organ in the center field bleachers and right in the middle of fans. His promotions allowed her the opportunity to perform.
Nancy fondly recalled his popular themed days, which included ethnic celebrations, parades, and college recognitions.
“I am so grateful to have worked for Bill,” she said.
Nancy said that most of the ideas for songs to introduce different players, now known as walk-up music, came from fans during games.
She started out playing state songs for baseball players, then branched out to ethnic connections, plays on words, nicknames, unusual traits and so on.
“I would not have had those tidbits if I were isolated in a booth,” she said, adding, “I could reflect anything happening during a ballgame because I could play without music.”
Did you catch that? Nancy plays primarily by ear. Just hum a tune and she can play it.
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She laughed to herself while recounting a time when a streaker took the field and she immediately started playing “Flight of the Bumble Bees.”
“The song selection was for the entertainment of the fans, not the players,” she added. “Now, the players select the song, so that might enhance the player’s confidence.”
Nancy also gives large credit for her success to Harry Caray, who was an announcer with the White Sox before he joined the Chicago Cubs.
“He made listeners aware of every aspect of a ballgame … both on and off the field,” she said.
Since Nancy could make eye contact with him, she said, Caray would say during the seventh-inning stretch, “OK, Nancy!” right before singing her version of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”
“That’s how I got name recognition,” she said. “He was a super salesman … I was honored to have worked with both of them (Veeck and Caray) during their time.”
Congratulations, Nancy! You just hit one out of the park.
Kimberly Albrecht is a freelance columnist for Pioneer Press.