Gary Pressy

Last updated

Gary Pressy is an American organist. He played organ for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. On Saturday, May 25, 2019, Pressy reached his 2,633-consecutive played game; never having missed a day in 33 years. He retired at the end of the 2019 season. [1]

Contents

Early life

Pressy knew he wanted to play organ for a sports team, especially a major league team, since he was 5-years old. He began playing the organ as a young boy in the Ashburn area of Chicago, near St. Thomas More Church. [2] Pressy would often imitate the organists he would hear on the radio during broadcast games. Watching the World Series on television, he thought to himself: “Boy, I’d like to do that! ” [3]

Pressy played the organ throughout his school days at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, graduating in 1975. He continued private organ studies with Russ Caifano while in college and began sending out resumes to area teams who may have been in need of an organist. [4]

John McDonough hired him to play for the Chicago Sting soccer club. When McDonough transferred to the Chicago Cubs organization in 1987, Pressy went with him. Of Pressy, McDonough says: “The one thing that struck me with Gary was he was so reliable. Those jobs are important. It’s hard to have a backup for the organist. He gets along with everybody. He’s a craftsman.” [5]

Career

Wrigley Field was the first Major League ballpark to have organ music on April 26, 1941. [2] [6] Pressy was hired in 1987. He marks the 2016 Chicago Cubs World Series as one of his most cherished highlights of his career. [7]

On August 28, 2017, Pressy tweeted: Big homestand starts tonight, but special night as it's my 2500th consecutive game as organist at WF. Thank you fans! - GP. [8]

On Saturday, May 25, 2019, Pressy reached his 2,633-consecutive game milestone, never having missed a day in 33 years. The streak would surpass Baltimore Orioles’ Cal Ripken Jr.'s Hall of Fame consecutive games-played on the field (2,632). Pressy spoke of the achievement and comparison in an April 2019 interview stating: “That’s a whole different ballgame, pardon the pun … but it is flattering that they even mention that.” [9]

Ballgame music

Regarding the famous “7th inning stretch”, for years sportscaster Harry Caray would sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". After Caray died in February 1998, various singers and celebrities would guest appear to lead the crowd in singing the song. Pressy cites Mike Ditka’s performance on July 4, 1998 as his most memorable accompaniment. [10] Others include Ozzy Osbourne, who Pressy still says to this day he [Ozzy] “sang it backwards … but he did sing at the end: "let’s get some runs!”, and Vin Scully: “He nailed it.” [2] [5]

Pressy, an avid baseball fan himself, knows the game inside and out: “I’ll know when a batter has three balls on him and the next pitch could be a walk, so you are going to need to play a walking song. And you have to just know things like how you don’t play when the pitcher is about to throw the ball. There are a lot of rules that you have to follow.”

For 26 years, Pressy would play specifically assigned “walk-up” music for each player, saying: “it was fun to choose songs based on a player's number, their names or their hometowns.” [2] When the Cubs retired catcher Buster Posey, Pressy played the theme to Ghostbusters. [5] For Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood's last game on May 18, 2012, Pressy played My Way as Woods left the mound. [11] For pitcher Tom Gorzelanny, Pressy performed the Marist High School’s fight song whenever he entered the game. [10]

In 2016, a big screen was introduced along with a DJ. Pressy adapted to the new format by updating his repertoire to include such artists as Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry, etc. “You try to do different types of styles …”, Pressy says, “The one thing about the fans, there’s all different types of people who come to the ballpark. You have 80-year-olds and 10-year-olds.” He even plays holiday classics; but refuses to play There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays, because “we don’t want him touching home plate”. [5]

The Cubs created a special bobblehead of Pressy seated at the Wrigley organ to commemorate 30 years with the organization. Pressy awards fans with the one-of-a-kind prize who answer trivia questions correctly on his Twitter account during games. [2]

Today, organs at baseball stadiums have been made redundant in exchange for canned music. Pressy says: "I don't think it's a dying art, especially at Wrigley Field,” The team, he says, respects tradition. [2] Pressy played on a Lowrey organ. [10]

Related Research Articles

Chicago Cubs Baseball team and Major League Baseball franchise in Chicago, Illinois, United States

The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. They play home games at Wrigley Field, located on the city's North Side. The Cubs are one of two major league teams based in Chicago; the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League (AL) Central division. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, were a founding member of the NL in 1876, becoming the Chicago Cubs in 1903.

Wrigley Field Baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, US

Wrigley Field is a baseball park located on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Whales of the Federal League, which folded after the 1915 baseball season. The Cubs played their first home game at the park on April 20, 1916, defeating the Cincinnati Reds with a score of 7–6 in 11 innings. Chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. of the Wrigley Company acquired the Cubs in 1921. It was named Cubs Park from 1920 to 1926, before being renamed Wrigley Field in 1927. It is actually the second stadium to be named Wrigley Field, as a Los Angeles ballpark with the same name opened in 1925.

Harry Caray American sportscaster

Harry Christopher Caray was an American sportscaster on radio and television. He covered five Major League Baseball teams, beginning with 25 years of calling the games of the St. Louis Cardinals with two of these years also spent calling games for the St. Louis Browns. After a year working for the Oakland Athletics and eleven years with the Chicago White Sox, Caray spent the last sixteen years of his career as the announcer for the Chicago Cubs.

Ryne Sandberg American baseball player and manager

Ryne Dee Sandberg, nicknamed "Ryno", is an American former professional baseball player, coach, and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs for 16 years.

Steve Bartman incident Baseball incident in 2003

The Steve Bartman incident was a controversial play that occurred during a baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins on October 14, 2003, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois, during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2003 postseason.

The Curse of the Billy Goat was a sports-related curse that was supposedly placed on the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise in 1945, by Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis. The curse lasted 71 years, from 1945 to 2016. His pet goat, named Murphy, was bothering other fans, Sianis was asked to leave Wrigley Field, the Cubs' home ballpark, during game 4 of the 1945 World Series. Outraged, Sianis allegedly declared, "Them Cubs, they ain't gonna win no more," which had been interpreted to mean that the Cubs would never win another National League (NL) pennant, at least for the remainder of Sianis's life.

Jack Brickhouse American sportscaster

John Beasley Brickhouse was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. In 1985, Brickhouse was inducted into the American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame along with the Voice of the Yankees Mel Allen and Red Sox Voice Curt Gowdy. Brickhouse served as the organization's Secretary/Treasurer and was a member of its board of directors.

<i>Rookie of the Year</i> (film) 1993 American film directed by Daniel Stern

Rookie of the Year is a 1993 American sports comedy film starring Thomas Ian Nicholas and Gary Busey as players for the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The cast also includes Albert Hall, Dan Hedaya, Eddie Bracken, Amy Morton, Bruce Altman, John Gegenhuber, Neil Flynn, Daniel Stern, and John Candy in an uncredited role.

Bill Holden, is a teacher who embarked on a 2,100 mile (3,400 km) walk, from Arizona to Chicago, during 2005, hoping to raise $250,000 dollars to be donated to the American Diabetes Association so that a cure for juvenile diabetes can be found. Holden made national headlines with his walk.

Cardinals–Cubs rivalry Major League Baseball rivalry

The Cardinals–Cubs rivalry, also called the Route 66 rivalry and The I-55 rivalry, refers to the rivalry between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL), one of the most bitter rivalries in Major League Baseball and in all of North American professional sports. The Cardinals have won 19 NL pennants, while the Cubs have won 17. However, the Cardinals have a clear edge when it comes to World Series success, having won 11 championships to the Cubs' 3. Games between the two clubs see numerous visiting fans in either St. Louis's Busch Stadium or Chicago's Wrigley Field. When the NL split into two divisions in 1969, and later three divisions in 1994, the Cardinals and Cubs remained together.

Nancy Faust American musician

Nancy Faust is an American former stadium organist for Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox.

Grant M. DePorter is a restaurateur from Chicago, U.S., who came to prominence in 2004 after he paid US$113,824.16 for a baseball which had played a role in the Chicago Cubs defeat in the 2003 National League Championship Series, and had the ball destroyed in a nationally televised event. The event was an attempt to end the "Curse of the Billy Goat" – which has supposedly prevented the Cubs from winning the National League since 1945 – and also helped raise a substantial amount of money for diabetes research.

Ronnie Woo Woo

Ronnie "Woo Woo" Wickers is a longtime Chicago Cubs fan and local celebrity in the Chicago area. He is known to Wrigley Field visitors for his idiosyncratic cheers at baseball games, generally punctuated with an exclamatory "Woo!" Longtime Cubs announcer Harry Caray dubbed Wickers "Leather Lungs" for his ability to shout for hours at a time.

History of the Chicago Cubs

The following is a franchise history of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, a charter member of the National League who started play in the National Association in 1870 as the Chicago White Stockings. The Chicago National League Ball Club is the only franchise to play continuously in the same city since the formation of the National League in 1876. They are the earliest formed active professional sports club in North America, predating the team now known as the Atlanta Braves by one year. In their early history, they were called in the press the White Stockings, Orphans, Infants, Remnants and Colts before officially becoming "Cubs" in 1907.

1998 Chicago Cubs season Major League Baseball season

The 1998 Chicago Cubs season was the 127th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 123rd in the National League and the 83rd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished second in the National League Central with a record of 90–73.

1987 Chicago Cubs season Major League Baseball season

The 1987 Chicago Cubs season was the 116th season of the Chicago Cubs franchise, the 112th in the National League and the 72nd at Wrigley Field. The Cubs finished sixth and last in the National League East with a record of 76–85, 18½ games behind the division and pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

John McDonough (sports executive) American sports executive (born 1953)

John McDonough is an American sports executive who spent two decades with the Chicago Cubs. In 2007, he left the presidency of the Cubs to become president of the Chicago Blackhawks. On June 1, 2011, McDonough was promoted to President and CEO of the Blackhawks. He specialized in the area of marketing. On April 27, 2020, he was released from his job with the Blackhawks.

Pat Pieper

Frank "Pat" Pieper (1886–1974) served as the Chicago Cubs field announcer from 1916 to 1974, a span of 59 years.

Stadium organist Musicians who play the organ during live sporting events.

Stadium organists are musicians who play the organ during live sporting events.

References

  1. ↑ "After 33 years, Wrigley organist Pressy to retire". MLB.com. 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ariel Cheung. "Wrigley Field Organist, With 2,500 Games And Counting, Living His Dream". Lakeview & Wrigleyville. Archived from the original on 2019-08-03. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
  3. ↑ David Schuster. "Gary Pressy reflects on ironman run as Wrigley Field organist". 670thescore.radio.com.
  4. ↑ International Musician. "Out of the Ball Park: Organist Plays the Big League". Journal of the American Federation of Musicians.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Chris Hine. "Gary Pressy hits all the right chords" (PDF). Intermezzo Magazine.
  6. ↑ Leela Stockley. "Gary Pressy hits all the right chords". Maine Campus.
  7. ↑ Tricia Despres. "Living The Dream: Longtime Chicago Cubs Organist Gary Pressy Reflects On His Career". Recording Academy GRAMMY AWARDS.
  8. ↑ Jessica Kleinschmidt. "31 years later, legendary organist Gary Pressy celebrated 2,500th game with the Cubs". www.mlb.com.
  9. ↑ Cole Little. "Wrigley Field organist breaks Cal Ripken Jr.'s record". www.cubshq.com.
  10. 1 2 3 Matt Lindner. "Gary Pressy celebrates 25 years at Wrigley". www.espn.com.
  11. ↑ Paul Sullivan. "Wood's final day has perfect ending". Chicago Tribune.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.