At 89, Fred Costello plays the organ on the opening day in Rochester, just like he has since 1977

Fred Costello was able to swing a bat, as well as he could perform a melody as a child who grew up in Syracuse, New York. He wanted to play at ballparks, thinking the best way to achieve that dream is through a smooth field and a sweet swing. At 89, Fred Costello plays the organ on the opening day in Rochester, just as he has since 1977: “I thought I was going to become the next Mickey Mantle,” he said. The idea of ​​blooming in the next big Yankees Slugger hit a sour note for Costello. His baseball career ended after a few years in semi-pro-ball, but the goal of playing out in a Balpark evening in an evening, though decades and beyond, but just like the person who now believes as the longest sports organist in history has played for a minor baseball team in Rchester since 1977. Before the Rochester Red Wings settled for Tuesday’s home opener, Costello became comfortable behind his Yamaha and Korg slave boards for the start of his 48th baseball season. Costello turned 89 on Saturday and the numbers go from there thanks to a career of nearly five decades at the Rochester sports scene. Costello says he has missed only three Red Wings matches since 1977 and held the score of every tune played in the park from Frank Sinatra to Taylor Swift -the home opener marked his 3,458th Red Wings match and 4,987 games played in general, which also included three matches with the Buffalo Sabers, and local hockey. He struck his idol. Mantle played 2,401 games and batted with the Yankees with .298 in his career. “Can imagine what the average of Mickey Mantle would be if he has a walk-up song,” Costello asked. Of course, Costello plays the famous Balpark crabs like “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” It is his refusal to stick to the classic people and his compliance to keep a pulse of today’s favorites that he says help make him feel young and keep his enthusiasm for the work without falling into a nostalgia act. “Shaboozy made a big song,” he said. “I like ‘bar song’.” Costello plans to keep playing in his 90s – or at least as long as his fingers can still hit the right notes on the keyboard. He interprets his age. Why should it matter if he still calls-costello it never works-and there is another step-up theme or a centerpiece it plays to entertain fans and players of the Washington National’s Triple-A subsidiary? “I look forward to getting to the ballpark as my first game in ’77 today,” Costello said. “We’re like family. It’s nice up there. I’ve always liked music and baseball. These are my two greatest loves. I am a musician on the ballpark, so I have the best of both worlds. ‘ It helps that his family was just as a staple on the ball park as his organ. His wife, Cathie, works in the administrative division for the Red Wings and his two sons and a daughter all pitched when they grew up in the area. Playing the organ for Rochester is not even the longest ratio of Costello – he celebrates 60 years with Cathie in August. Costello spent years as a touring musician, mostly West Coast clubs and Las Vegas, with well -known names ranging from Bobby Darin to Doc Severinsen. Costello is a jazz player. He has hosted a morning Jazz show for more than a decade at Rochester Radio and is still playing in the music festivals in the area with his five-piece orchestra. He does not change his style much on the ball park. “I’m going to play like I play in the nightclubs,” he said. “I’m going to play jazz, a few blues, a classic rock, Latin music. It worked out perfectly because it apart from everyone else. ‘ His wife had roots in the Rochester area, and when she was pregnant with the couple’s first child in the late 1970s, Costello mostly road life and the young family gave up and settled in the area. Looking for a performance, Costello got the phone call that changed our entire life, from an old friend, the then Rochester general manager Don Labbruzzo. Rochester needs an organist. Costello needs a steady action. Why don’t it try? “He gave me a one -year contract in ’77 and I’m still here,” he says, laughing. Costello started playing on the plots – put together in a hat and coat before finally moving into the press box – and expanding his baseball catalog in hundreds and hundreds of songs. He plays the hits on Frontier Field while the Red Wings gets them on the field – and his set list lasts beyond the average time he says of most Major League Ballpark organists. “I get a little more playing time,” Costello said. “I also play seven, eight, nine songs per game. I get a chance to stretch out a bit. ‘ Like most in the minors, Costello wanted the big leagues shot, and he found almost one at the New York Yankees. But after an audition about 20 years ago and, he says, he offers from the Yankees and Mets-he decided that he did not want to uproot his life in the city of New York and stayed in Triple-A. “The wings were very good to me,” he said. “They put me in a wonderful category.” Of course, the Major League soundtrack mostly comes from pipe music and DJs these days. Few teams employ a real organist and the days of one musician – such as former Chicago Cubs organist Gary Pressy, who played 2.633 straight games – which serves as the soundboard for the game, has largely made way for canned music. Costello hopes that will not be the case in Rochester soon. Costello, which pushes 90, says Costello that he is not a shot that he delays. He was admitted to Halls of Fame, A Walk of Fame, Rochester declared a Fred Costello Day in 2022 and even a Bobblehead was made in honor of him. Why stop playing now? “I’ll keep doing it,” he said, “until I get it right.” MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/mlb This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without changes to text.