Joshua Kantor (born November 3, 1972) is the organist for Boston Red Sox home games at Fenway Park and plays keyboards and organ for the bands Jim's Big Ego, the Split Squad, and the Baseball Project.
Joshua Kantor (born November 3, 1972) is the organist for Boston Red Sox home games at Fenway Park and plays keyboards and organ for the bands Jim's Big Ego, the Split Squad, and the Baseball Project.
Kantor grew up in Athens, Georgia, where he began taking piano lessons at age "four or five," [1] and developed an early interest in baseball through following the Atlanta Braves. He moved to the Chicago area when he was thirteen, and soon discovered Nancy Faust, the renowned organist for the Chicago White Sox. Kantor has repeatedly cited Faust as a major influence in his musical development as an organist. [2]
Kantor continued to play music through high school and college. He attended Brandeis University, where he honed his improvisation skills playing piano with a campus sketch comedy group. [3] After college, he remained in the Boston area and began to focus seriously on playing the organ, performing with local bands and comedy groups while supporting himself by working in libraries at Boston University and Harvard Law School. [4]
When the Red Sox were looking for a new organist in 2003, Kantor was able to get an audition through the help of a friend who was working for the team. After two auditions in which he was asked to play a variety of popular songs and asked to improvise based on specific situations within a baseball game, he was hired. [5] As of 2015, Kantor had not missed a single home game in twelve years. [6]
During Red Sox home games at Fenway Park, Kantor plays organ music before and after games, mixing traditional favorites with current popular songs. During the ballgame, organ and recorded music alternate. Kantor works closely with TJ Connelly, the DJ for the Red Sox. Kantor takes requests from fans via his Twitter account (@jtkantor) and often plays songs suggested during the game by fans at the ballpark. [7] Sometimes he learns those songs in advance so he can play them for the requestee, a process Steve Albini called "incredibly charming." [8] Kantor has said that he got his idea in part from Yo La Tengo's live request fundraising shows on WFMU. [9]
In addition to his work with the Red Sox, Kantor plays regularly with Jim's Big Ego, a Boston-based rock band; The Split Squad, a so-called "super group" featuring former members of Blondie and The Fleshtones; and The Baseball Project, which writes and plays songs about baseball.
Kantor's high-profile job with the Red Sox has led to other notable performances including a program of ballpark music at Boston's Symphony Hall after the Red Sox's 2004 World Series championship; appearances on ESPN's SportsCenter, where he has played background music on the opening day of the baseball season for several years; and at the Todos Santos Music Festival, a multi-day arts and music festival founded by REM guitarist Peter Buck, at which Kantor plays keyboards and accordion in support of a variety of bands. [10] He was the organist for the Dropkick Murphys "Streaming Outta Fenway" show on May 30, 2020. [11]
On March 26, 2020, with the baseball season cancelled, Kantor began livestreaming a daily show called the 7th-Inning Stretch on Facebook Live. [12] He plays requested songs, shares baseball trivia, and participates in Q&A with viewers. [13] The show, which is produced by his wife the Rev. Mary Jane Eaton (and Chloe Jr. a very small hippo), always includes the 7th Inning Stretch, a sing-a-long version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with one changed lyric: "I DO care if I never get back." [12] [14] Kantor and Eaton encourage their viewers, who come from all around the world, to make donations to their local food banks in addition to being good to each other and washing their hands. [13] The show has had a number of "secret surprise special guests" including Peter Gammons, Bob Kendrick, Joe Castiglione, Mike Mills, Kelly Hogan, Tanya Donelly, Ted Allen, Gary Louris and John Jackson, Ira Kaplan, Haben Girma, Dale Murphy, Ben Gibbard, Dave Davis, Steve Gorman, Kathy Valentine, Nate Query and Jenny Conlee, Shirley Burkovich, Maybelle Blair, and Nancy Faust. When baseball returned, Kantor and Eaton moved the show to a weekly one on Monday afternoons. [15]
The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and plays their home games at Guaranteed Rate Field, located on Chicago's South Side. The White Sox are one of two MLB teams based in Chicago, the other being the Chicago Cubs of the National League (NL) Central division.
Fenway Park is a baseball park located in Boston, Massachusetts, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home for the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantially rebuilt in 1934, and underwent major renovations and modifications in the 21st century. It is the oldest active ballpark in MLB. Because of its age and constrained location in Boston's dense Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood, the park has many quirky features, including "The Triangle", Pesky's Pole, and the Green Monster in left field. It is the fifth-smallest among MLB ballparks by seating capacity, second-smallest by total capacity, and one of eight that cannot accommodate at least 40,000 spectators.
The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the 37-foot-2-inch-high (11.33 m) left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is 310 feet (94 m) from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters.
Braves Field was a baseball park located in Boston, Massachusetts. Today the site is home to Nickerson Field on the campus of Boston University. The stadium was home of the Boston Braves of the National League from 1915 to 1952, prior to the Braves' move to Milwaukee in 1953. The stadium hosted the 1936 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and Braves home games during the 1948 World Series. The Boston Red Sox used Braves Field for their home games in the 1915 and 1916 World Series since the stadium had a larger seating capacity than Fenway Park. Braves Field was the site of Babe Ruth's final season, playing for the Braves in 1935. From 1929 to 1932, the Boston Red Sox played select regular season games periodically at Braves Field. On May 1, 1920, Braves Field hosted the longest major league baseball game in history – 26 innings, which eventually ended in a 1–1 tie.
In baseball in the United States and Canada, the seventh-inning stretch is a long-standing tradition that takes place between the halves of the seventh inning of a game. Fans generally stand up and stretch out their arms and legs and sometimes walk around. It is a popular time to get a late-game snack or an alcoholic beverage, as alcohol sales often cease after the last out of the seventh inning. The stretch also serves as a short break for the players.
"Tessie" is both the longtime anthem of the Boston Red Sox and a 2004 song by the punk rock group Dropkick Murphys. The original "Tessie" was from the 1902 Broadway musical The Silver Slipper. The newer song, written in 2004, recounts how the singing of the original "Tessie" by the Royal Rooters fan club helped the Boston Americans win the first World Series in 1903. The name Tessie itself is a diminutive form used with several names, including Esther, Tess, and Theresa/Teresa.
The Royal Rooters were a fan club for Boston's professional baseball team in the American League in the early 20th century. The team was known as the Boston Americans during the 1901–1907 seasons, and has been known as the Boston Red Sox since the 1908 season. The Royal Rooters disbanded in 1918.
The use of music at sporting events is a practice that is thousands of years old, but has recently had a resurgence as a noted phenomenon. Some sports have specific traditions with respect to pieces of music played at particular intervals. Others have made the presentation of music very specific to the team—even to particular players. Music may be used to build the energy of the fans, and music may also be introduced in ways that are less directly connected with the action in a sporting event.
Nancy Faust is an American former stadium organist for Major League Baseball's Chicago White Sox.
John Leo Harrington is an American retired business manager and former executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was president of the Boston Red Sox from 1987 through 2001, also acting as CEO during much of the time the Red Sox were owned by the JRY Trust (1992–2001).
Wally the Green Monster is the official mascot for the Boston Red Sox. His name is derived from the Green Monster, the nickname of the 37-foot 2-inch wall in left field at Fenway Park. Wally debuted on April 13, 1997. Although he was an immediate success with children, he was not as well-received by older fans. Wally has since become more accepted by Red Sox fans of all ages, in part due to the late fan-favorite Red Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy creating stories about him and sharing them during televised games.
John Kiley was the organist at Braves Field from 1948 to 1952, Fenway Park from 1953 to 1989 and at the Boston Garden from 1941 to 1984. He is credited with having discovered the Boston Garden's resident singer Rene Rancourt.
Live at Fenway Park is a live album by American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and is one of a number of Jimmy Buffett sound board live albums recorded directly from the mixing console without further editing thus resembling bootleg recordings.
Fenway Sports Group Holdings, LLC (FSG), is the ultimate parent company of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C., a Premier League football team.
JetBlue Park is a baseball park in Fort Myers, Florida, part of the Fenway South training and development facility.
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.
Dieter Ruehle is an American musician who is the stadium organist for Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers and National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings. As of October 2020, Ruehle has played for three championship teams in three different sports: Dodgers in 2020; Lakers in 2002, 2009 and 2010; and Kings in 2012 and 2014.
A stadium organist is a musician who plays an organ during live sporting events.
I think it's incredibly charming