In early December, the home practice organ owned by beloved former White Sox organist Nancy Faust was auctioned off to benefit Chicago White Sox Charities. The Hammond Elegante Model 340100—complete with original bench and owner’s manual—sold for $1,400 to one of the biggest champions of both Faust and baseball organ music: Josh Kantor, who’s been the Boston Red Sox organist since 2003.
Hogan knew Dowd and Crawford already, and she’d met Kantor last year while she was on tour with the Decemberists. She saw the same Facebook post, and she commented on how heartwarming the story of the organ’s purchase was. Kantor was quick to let her know about the emerging plan. “[Josh was] like, ‘Do you want to help your friend Gerald Dowd bring it from Chicago to Boston?'” she says. “And I was like, ‘Yes!'”
The trip almost got off on the wrong foot, though: despite preliminary measurements, says Hogan, the organ “came very close to not fitting” in the rental van. The crew managed to Tetris it inside, and though it was a tight squeeze, that didn’t bother Hogan: “All three of us have so many miles in band vans between us, it’s pretty normal to be resting my arm on an organ as we’re traveling.”
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Faust’s legacy looms large in Chicago, of course, but why did people outside the city care about the organ’s journey? Kantor has a few theories. “It feels nice to people that traditions are being preserved, especially with regard to baseball and music, which are things that people are sort of passionate about in a pure kind of way,” he says. “For a lot of people, it’s something that starts as a childhood joy but remains an adulthood joy. I think maybe just the notion of friendship and support and community that’s an important part of this story is resonating with people. I know it’s resonating with me.”
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At that point he turned to his wife, asking her to discourage him—he was afraid of buyer’s remorse if he won and disappointment if he didn’t. “I was looking for an out,” Kantor says. “She said, ‘Well, I could talk you out of it, if you really want me to, but I would rather talk you into it, and here’s why.’ And she gave me a whole long list of reasons for why it was important to me, and to her, and to us.”
No matter what happens, he’ll have a great teacher to guide him: Faust herself, who “has been incredibly supportive,” Kantor says. “She’s like, ‘If you have any questions, any problems, you let me know—I’ll talk you through it. I’ll give you advice and tips.’ I plan to lean on her for that.”
