Ballpark organists: They're out

From the L.A. Times, an article about the demise of live organists in Major League Baseball. Highlights/lowlights:

• Earlier this year, the L.A. Angels of Anaheim became the latest team to sack its keyboard player... Peggy Duquesnel, an accomplished jazz musician who had tickled the ivories for the Angels since 1998, was dismissed before the season started.
• Nancy Faust has been playing keyboard for the Chicago White Sox since 1970 and doesn't expect to be replaced when she retires.
• Organ music didn't debut until 1941 at Chicago's Wrigley Field.
• During the 1970s, the Sporting News published letters complaining that organs "detract from the game" and should be "removed and put back in church where they belong," according to John Odell, co-curator of the Hall of Fame's forthcoming "Sacred Ground" exhibit on ballpark history.
• During the streaker craze of the 1970s, for example, a naked man sprinted across the field in Philadelphia, prompting the keyboardist to play Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?"
• A notable holdout in the audio-video revolution is Wrigley Field. "It's like walking into a baseball time capsule," says Chicago Cub spokesman John McDonough. "I'm not sure that playing Velvet Revolver between innings is consistent with what we're trying to market."

Read the article...