For years, Ernie Hays traveled to Busch Stadium, climbed to a small booth overlooking the field, and sat at his Yamaha AR80 electronic organ. He’d begin to play: Dah dee daw… His fingers glided across the keys as he led the crowd in the requisite “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” He’d follow with the song he first played for the St. Louis Steamers in the 1970s, “Here Comes the King,” the Budweiser jingle that rang through the stadium to accompany video of the famous Clydesdales.
During the ’70s and early ’80s, Hays’ playlist stretched much further. Each spring, he’d tailor the songs to the starting lineup. He’d play the theme song to Shaft for Lou Brock, a flourish from The Wizard of Oz for Ozzie Smith. Over time, though, the organ’s role began to dwindle, replaced by prerecorded pop songs. Last month, after four decades, Hays prepared to play his final note as the Cardinals’ full-time organist.
“I’ve been at it for 40 years. I’m 75 years of age, and it’s time the body should slow down,” he explained, adding that he’ll still fill in for the Cardinals on occasion.
Hays is just one of Major League Baseball’s veteran organists leaving the booth. Longtime Chicago White Sox organist Nancy Faust announced plans to step down last month after 41 seasons. She, too, watched as canned music, the same you might hear at the Galleria, came to replace the music so synonymous with America’s pastime. Hays recalls Faust’s line on the subject: “She said baseball organists are going the way of dinosaurs, and I thought that was perfect.”
This month’s cover story, “Vanished St. Louis” (p. 60), examines other aspects of our city’s rich history—some lost, others changed. Seven St. Louisans share their reflections on neighborhoods from Gaslight Square to Gumbo Bottom. The accounts are deeply personal, yet they address larger shifts that have shaped the region.
The same sorts of shifts—some subtle, some sweeping—are playing out daily. Case in point: Longtime DJ Tom Sudholt’s poignant reflections on Classic 99 (p. 100), months after Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony ushered an end to the radio station’s 62-year history. In the wake of state budget cuts, the Metropolitan St. Louis Psychiatric Center—founded in 1938 as the Malcolm Bliss Psychopathic Institute—recently closed its emergency department, causing healthcare officials to scramble to fill a vital community need (p. 86). And the Evening Whirl (p. 52), the “crime-fighting” paper whose prose, well, isn’t quite as elegant as Sudholt’s, continues to draw a cult following after more than 70 years.
As for the Cardinals’ full-time organist? Next season, Dwayne Hilton—half Hays’ age—will take the helm. The veteran’s advice: “Make sure you’re in the game, but not interrupting the game.”
