Nancy Faust Jenkins and Beth Finke

[00:02] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I'm Nancy Faust Jenkins. I'm 71 years old, and today is September 21, 2018, and we're in Chicago, Illinois.

[00:13] BETH FINKE: I'm Beth Finke. I am not yet 60 years old. It's September 21, 2018. We're in Chicago, and I'm with my buddy, Nancy Faust.

[00:24] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And Beth. I'm with my. My buddy.

[00:27] BETH FINKE: All right, I am going. I'm the lucky one that gets to start the questions. So, Nancy, when you were a kid, did you have much interest in baseball or sports?

[00:39] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: When I was a child, I was simply interested in animals, yes. And. But music came very easy to me. It just happened that when I was about five years old, an organ was purchased for my musician mother, who up to that time played piano. And in order to expand her business of playing professionally, we added an organ, like so many people were doing in their homes in those days. Well, I was five years old, and the organ caught my fancy. And before you know it, I was picking up little simple tunes by ear. My father was just so enthused to hear me. He was tone deaf, by the way, but he just loved hearing me play and knowing my love for animals. He'd say things like, well, Nance, if you just practice a little bit every day, how about I take you for a horseback riding lesson? And that's all it took. So that was a very good strategy.

[01:33] BETH FINKE: And you said your mom was a professional musician. Where'd she play?

[01:37] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: My mother. Oh, God. All her life, even when she was a child, she'd play in Putin Bay, Ohio, when the boats would come, and she'd play the piano when she was just a child and greet people off the boats. But she actually played regularly on WLS Radio Barn Dance in Chicago in the 40s, every day. And then after that stint, I think she just played a lot of commercial music. Her timing was good in that she had the ability to play all this commercial music at a time when live music was king. Although she was a woman, maybe it was Queen.

[02:16] BETH FINKE: Queen. And do you remember what it was about the organ that you said? How'd you say you caught your fancy or something?

[02:23] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, it was new, and it was electronic, and it had a lot of drawbars. It was. It was a Hammond organ. I think they called it a B2, a Hammond B2 at the time. And it just caught my fancy because of all the gizmos and the drawbars and pedals, and. I don't know, I just sat down and I was able to pick out simple tunes. I was Very fortunate to have inherited my mother's perfect pitch, although I didn't inherit her ability to read music, and I'm still pretty poor about that.

[02:53] BETH FINKE: So you play by ear?

[02:54] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I play by ear. That's right.

[02:56] BETH FINKE: And I would guess you were five years old. So did it light up?

[03:00] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I mean, well, things would happen that just kept me going. Like there was an audition in Chicago for an amateur hour. It was called Morris B. Sacks Amateur Hour, kind of like a precursor to American Idol, but just on a local level. And so my dad brought me down there, and sure enough, I was on the show. I was only five, and I won first prize, which was $75 and a wristwatch.

[03:24] BETH FINKE: Wow.

[03:25] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So, I mean, so things like that would encourage my dad to encourage me to keep going.

[03:31] BETH FINKE: Yeah. And the horse and the riding.

[03:34] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah.

[03:34] BETH FINKE: Riding lessons.

[03:35] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I never lost my love for the animals, and music was an avenue to realize my love for animals. What were some of those songs that you played or the song. Do you remember the song you played for that contest when I was on more specs? Amateur when I was five? I remember playing the song called Glowworm. It was very simple. Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Do you remember that?

[03:58] BETH FINKE: Yes. I think we learned it in grade school. Yes.

[04:02] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: You'll admit to having known that.

[04:03] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[04:04] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay. So I guess that was the. For public.

[04:09] BETH FINKE: Your first public song was Glowworm. Wow. And so what'd you want to be when you were a little girl? When you grew up, did you know what you wanted to be?

[04:15] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I probably said I wanted to be a veterinarian because that was the only thing I knew that was associated with animals. However, now I realize it was not practical. I don't think I could pass the chemistry part. Oh, college.

[04:30] BETH FINKE: It is hard to become a vet. Yeah.

[04:32] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah, it would be. But in the meantime, I was being able. I was making money playing jobs when I got into college that my mother couldn't do, play for luncheons, banquets, conventions. And I was making money, and that enabled me to ride horses more and pay for board and things like that.

[04:50] BETH FINKE: And did you play piano or organ when you subbed for your mother?

[04:53] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It was always organ, always organ. And in fact, my father then eventually got into the organ rental business. He provided an organ from my mother, or we had a rent one when my mother would play out, and he thought, oh, this is for the birds. We'll just buy one and I'll. And then provide it from my mom. And then he realized there was a big demand because so many people were playing organs. So he'd rent them to, like, drinking bars and restaurants by the month. And that grew into a business that he'd bring organs all over. We had, like, 15 B3 organs, Hammond, B3 ham and B3s.

[05:25] BETH FINKE: Wow. So what years. What year. In what years. What years was it that organs were so popular?

[05:33] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It started in the 50s, and my dad's business. We started them in the 50s and went through the 70s, probably.

[05:40] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[05:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And then fell out of favor. I think that before the organ. Did you ever play an instrument, Beth?

[05:45] BETH FINKE: Yes, I played piano.

[05:47] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay. How old were you when you started?

[05:49] BETH FINKE: Five.

[05:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: You were five?

[05:50] BETH FINKE: Yeah, I think. Yeah, I started lessons. No, I wish I had. I always wanted to play by ear, so we should trade places. But I actually. I'm curious. Well, I was curious about the organs, but then how did you get the white socks job?

[06:06] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay. Well, actually, then. Oh, I forgot to bring something. Darn. I wrote a letter at first, when I was in college to the. To the Philip Wrigley, expressing an interest in playing the national anthem. Oh, I have the letter out there, but I was. Let me stop this. I do have a letter. Yeah.

[06:28] BETH FINKE: Oh, then you can read it.

[06:29] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I could.

[06:30] BETH FINKE: No. Oh, that would be great.

[06:31] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It was about playing the national anthem for his ball games because the Vietnam War was going on.

[06:37] BETH FINKE: Oh.

[06:38] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And my friends that were big baseball fans, I wasn't, but they said they kind of wrote it on my behalf or helped me with it, I should say. Helped me write this letter saying, you need me to play the anthem? And then they said, were they not.

[06:51] BETH FINKE: Playing the anthem then? I mean, they weren't doing the anthem.

[06:54] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, I'll.

[06:55] BETH FINKE: Yeah, I guess we'll see.

[06:57] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, yeah, they weren't playing the anthem very often.

[07:00] BETH FINKE: Oh, because of the Vietnam War.

[07:02] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah. And, well, my friends thought. Oops. My friends felt that. And my college friends felt that if I could get a job playing for the Cubs, they could go to the games.

[07:12] BETH FINKE: Right. They were smart friends.

[07:14] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And. No, I don't. I had never even been to a baseball game, but knowing what I could do, I had this ability. I guess they thought it would be a good fit. So here's the answer that I got. I brought this with you so you could hear this, Beth.

[07:27] BETH FINKE: Thank you.

[07:27] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It says, replying to your letter of February 7th. This was 1967. Philip Wrigley said, I'm going to cut this short because of the Vietnam War. Oh, no, it says, I'm in.

[07:42] BETH FINKE: Read the whole thing. We've got time.

[07:43] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Replying to your letter of February 7th because of our very high regard for our country and its national anthem. We have followed the lead of our armed forces in playing the national anthem only on special occasions during peacetime. And we do not want to commercialize it or make it common. So there you go. That was his answer. So they didn't need my services.

[08:08] BETH FINKE: I had no idea that they. I thought they've always played the national anthem for games. How interesting.

[08:15] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: He did go on to say, however, because of the Vietnam War, which has certainly developed into a war, although it is still undeclared, we considered very seriously playing the anthem before every game and definitely decided toward the end of that season that we will start playing it in the 1967 season if the undeclared war continues. So. And then they did an interesting letter, and it was signed Philip Wrigley. And I just found this, Beth, in my basement. And so I forgot I even had it, but I was looking for pictures of you and me or something about the two of us.

[08:51] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[08:51] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And I came across this letter that.

[08:53] BETH FINKE: Is so interesting in the way he says undeclared war. And twice he says, though it was an undeclared war. So I think, thanks to your letter, they probably had a little meeting and should we have this every.

[09:05] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: This is embarrassing. We better start doing this anthem.

[09:07] BETH FINKE: Yeah. Wow.

[09:09] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah.

[09:09] BETH FINKE: So your friends are disappointed they didn't get their cups.

[09:11] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: They didn't. But in the meantime, I played at another function that happened to be attended by the general manager of the White Sox, and that was Stu Holcomb. That was just about when I graduated from college with a psychology degree. And Stu heard me, and he was the general manager and he offered me the job at White Sox. So I did end up playing for baseball. And I had only really attended one baseball game my whole life, but I guess it was meant to be, if there was such a thing.

[09:40] BETH FINKE: Did they have an organist?

[09:42] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: There was an organist, yeah. And in fact, the first organist was hired by Bill Veeck. Remember? Very flamboyant owner.

[09:50] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[09:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: He hired an organist in 1960. And that organist, Shay Torran, then moved to California and played for the Angels for very many years. So there was an opening and there was another organist in the interim. But I guess the change. They wanted to make a change. So I was just fortunate to be at the right place at the right time with enough talent. Wow.

[10:12] BETH FINKE: We are all fortunate that you were at. Thanks to Stu for hiring you.

[10:16] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, and I met you, too.

[10:18] BETH FINKE: So among the. How was your first day on the job?

[10:22] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I didn't play too much, and it Happened to be the year 1970, when the White Sox attendance was the lowest ever. So it was good because I really didn't know what to do other than play Take Me out to the Ball Game. And, in fact, I didn't. The organ was located outside, which was unique, and that was a Bill Vec idea, But it was in the centerfield bleachers, and the PA system wasn't real good. And I was probably nervous, and I thought that the pa. The public address announcer said, okay, everybody, stand for the anthem. And actually, he had said, stand for a moment of silence, but I didn't. So I played the anthem right away. So there was no moment of silence. But I didn't lose my job. And I always felt, well, if I just could be asked back one more year, I will. I'm not a failure, at least, and not a total failure.

[11:12] BETH FINKE: And.

[11:13] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And I was asked back.

[11:14] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[11:14] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And I had the support of my. And another interesting thing, Beth, being a woman, you might like to hear this, is that when I was first hired, there was a petition circulated saying that organist shouldn't be. My role should be filled by a man better suited for a man to play. But Stu also ignored that petition. How did you find out about that? Somebody in the stands told me, oh, they're going around with the petition. So then I tried to preempt it, and I said to Stu, my boss, I said, oh, I understand there's a petition being circulated about the fact that I'm not qualified. And he put my mind at ease. And he said, don't. Don't think twice. It goes in the garbage. He said, I love that guy. Yeah, I did, too.

[11:57] BETH FINKE: Yeah. Do you? I'm trying to think, why would that be? Because a man would understand baseball better. But back then, people. Organists. Weren't playing like you ended up playing. I mean.

[12:08] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: No.

[12:09] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[12:09] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: They did so little, actually. That's true.

[12:11] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[12:12] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So I think probably the organist had a big family and a lot of friends, and it was just hard to see that change.

[12:18] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[12:18] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: See him lose that job and.

[12:20] BETH FINKE: Oh, they're talking about the one. Okay. The organization was. Before I got you. Okay.

[12:25] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So they could. Yeah.

[12:26] BETH FINKE: Yeah. It was.

[12:27] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Personal reasons. Yeah. It's always tough to be the victim of a change like that.

[12:32] BETH FINKE: Yeah. Yes. It's hard for people to change. I do know that. All right.

[12:37] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So, Beth, well, when did you start going to baseball games?

[12:41] BETH FINKE: You doing that on purpose?

[12:42] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I watched.

[12:45] BETH FINKE: When did I start going to Boyle games? I went. I think my first baseball game was when I was a kid. I'M the youngest of seven children and my oldest sister is 20 years older than me. So her, when I was six or something, she was grown up and had, you know, she had a kid and blah, blah, blah. So her husband, my brother in law, got free tickets through his business and so he brought us to a game, me and my sister and his son and daughter.

[13:13] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Was that a white sax game?

[13:14] BETH FINKE: A white sex game? So my first game was a White Sox game and it was a night game and it was magical to me because there was so much going on. I think I'm young, I was. I think Bill Vic might have still been the owner, I'm not sure, but that, you know, there were fireworks and lights and organ music and. And I don't remember much about the game, although even the lights on the field was kind of magical. I enjoyed it. I mean, it was kind of scary, but not because of harm would come to me. But it was a big stadium and a big old Comiskey Park. You know, it was a big place and back then kids could roam free sort of. I mean, it wasn't. There weren't safety issues. So me and my nephew, who's a year younger than me, would walk around.

[13:57] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: By ourselves and it was expressed freedom.

[14:00] BETH FINKE: Yeah. So it was fun. So that was my first game, was a White Sox game. I went to a Cubs game once when I was 9 or 10.

[14:11] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And.

[14:11] BETH FINKE: I think I went. Yeah, in high school I went to a White Sox game. I wasn't a big baseball fan. I understood baseball and we played it, but I didn't. I wasn't a big fan until I got married and I married a White Sox fan.

[14:23] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay, so then you took off from there.

[14:26] BETH FINKE: Yes, yes. So I wanted to ask you one. Oh, what was your most memorable game?

[14:34] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, boy. There were probably, it depends. Good or bad?

[14:39] BETH FINKE: Both. Let's start with bad.

[14:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So we know we're going to talk about. There was the bill of EC promotion that went south for Disco Demolition. And it ended up that the second game of the doubleheader had to be forfeited because in between games, when the DJ that was part of the promotion, who was Steve Dahlia, when he blew up the disco records, it was a Disco Demolition promotion. Well, his fans just stormed the field and they just went out of hand and we couldn't get them back in the stands. But I didn't know at the time. You know, it started out with everybody just yelling disco sucks. And I'm playing do, do do and everybody's yelling disco sex. And it was Fun.

[15:20] BETH FINKE: Yes, yes.

[15:21] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It just got out of hand. So then pretty soon Bill Veeck got on the microphone and said, please take your seats here. He got on let's all sing Take Me out to the Ball Game, but nothing worked. Second game was forfeited. So that was just a bad, bad situation, but unforgettable.

[15:37] BETH FINKE: Was it frightening?

[15:38] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It was frightening when you'd see little fires in the stands, people were burning programs or something. And I thought this could get serious. Yeah, but.

[15:48] BETH FINKE: And you mentioned Harry. You mean Harry Carey?

[15:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: That's right.

[15:51] BETH FINKE: I think a lot of people, they always think of the Cubs with Harry Carey. But can you talk a little bit about the history you and Harry Carey?

[15:58] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, yeah. Harry really encouraged me so that Harry was hired by the same person that hired me, Stu Holcomb. He was hired in my second year. The organ was in the center field bleachers, still kind of away from all the activity, but out there. And I'd listen to his broadcasts on the radio, on my little radio in center field, knowing that everybody just liked to listen to Harry. Plus it gave me a little more insight about baseball. And I just a knee jerk reaction. One game he was moaning about, oh, if this game doesn't pick up, you have to carry me out, you have to carry me home. And when I heard that, I just played a few bars of Carry Me Back to Olver. And Harry said, well, listen to that. Even the organist, even the organist agrees. How about that? Who is that person? And so that put me on his radar. And so Harry, being the kind of super salesman that would promote every aspect of the ballgame started, including the music once he learned my name. And then he'd say, oh, there she is out in center field. We ought to bring her in closer to the action. And sure enough, they did. So the third year, I was put in right behind home plate with. Surrounded by fans. And I'd say Harry was responsible for putting the bug in management's ear to, you know, to make me more interactive.

[17:19] BETH FINKE: So Harry Carey was the radio announcer?

[17:21] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yes, he was. He had been with St. Louis for many years and created quite a. Had quite a following there. And then after he had a falling out, I understand with management, found his way to the south side of Chicago and he was well received.

[17:35] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[17:35] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah, I bet.

[17:37] BETH FINKE: So the fans you mentioned that did that, you're moving from the outfield to behind home plate, did it. Could you say it changed everything?

[17:46] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I think it did because I was well received and I got so much encouragement from the fans. I knew they liked what they were hearing and they were giving me fantastic ideas to play for players. They had so much more insight that they knew that George Brett had hemorrhoid surgery, things like that. They knew that somebody dated. So I could play oh, you can't sit down or walk on inside, so. Or they knew that somebody was dating Madonna, you know, or Papa Don't Preach. So I could play all these songs that were really cool, you know, that only insiders would know. Somebody told me that a player named Inge. They said that he shares the name with a famous playwright.

[18:25] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[18:26] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I wouldn't have known that. I'm not that cultural. But I said, what was the play? It was Bus Stop. Well, then I was able to play bus Stop. Dun, dun, dun. That kind of thing.

[18:34] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[18:35] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So. Oh, my gosh. So I just learned the terminology. And I guess you would say I was, you know, nowadays, you tweet or something, but we didn't. My social interaction was with real faces and real people. Just, you know, I saw hundreds of people, and everybody liked what I did. So it encouraged me to play a lot. And I was. Became a soundtrack for the game because there was no recorded music in those days, so anything that happened, you know, it seemed there was something appropriate to play for whatever it was.

[19:04] BETH FINKE: Yeah. Well, you figured it. How were you able to come up with the song so quickly?

[19:08] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, I do play by ear, so if I knew a title. If I knew the term. If I knew the term walk. Well, I learned that you walk to first base. Well, all the walk songs, you know, walk right in and walk this way and just, I don't want to walk without you and walk like an Egyptian and just. I don't know, just by association, any term. And then you'd see a ballplayer come to bed, and he'd be a number three. And you'd play the theme from Three's Company or, you know, things like that. Or Number one, you'd play. One is the loneliest number that you ever do. Oh. Or just. I mean, there was just so much association with whatever the term of the ball, the ballpark term was. There's a lot of association with the number. His last name. It might be ethnic. It might be Polish. The guy might be big. And like Frank Howard. I think his name was Frank Howard. Harry'd say, he's just too big to be a man and not big enough to be a horse. And I'd play. Yeah, I feel the earth move under my feet. Just things like that just inspired my creativity was at a peak in Those days. And I had the luxury of playing whenever I. As long as I didn't interfere with the game itself. But there was so much dead time when there's a change of pictures and there's an argument and guy scratching himself on him before he's hitting. There was just a lot of.

[20:28] BETH FINKE: So do you think you have a gift, a unique gift?

[20:32] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I don't know if you call it a gift, but I'm very fortunate to have inherited my mother's ear. So if I know how a song goes, I can just play it. Just give me a title and I'll play it, even if I'd never played it before. And I did it well enough for people to recognize. And it became a dimension of the game that I think was enjoyable because we didn't yet have scoreboards that provided so much more entertainment and permeated your senses in so many other ways. Yeah, yeah.

[21:00] BETH FINKE: Is there a certain song you're really especially proud of that you came up with it?

[21:04] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, probably lots of them, Beth.

[21:06] BETH FINKE: Yeah. So many.

[21:07] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Really. I mean, I liked. Somebody gave me the idea to play in. I Gotta Vida for Pete in Caviglia. I thought that was pretty clever. Yeah.

[21:15] BETH FINKE: So. Well, so you did get. I mean, some of them you came up with. Yeah, some of them. Well, you're married. You've been married a long time to your husband. Did he come up with some of them? I mean, would you discuss this at home sometimes?

[21:25] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, we'd listen to radios, and almost any song you'd hear, you'd say, oh, I could. That could apply for this. You know, it's just always something that you could plot. You could apply it for a game situation. Oh, golly. Like, for instance, sometimes a game would be held up because the player needed his sunglasses. So then you play. I wear. Bring them the sunglasses. And I'm playing. I wear my sunglasses. Or Blinded by the Light, things like that. Or the game. One time, I knew this was going to happen because it was a rage over the winter and a player jumped from the stands onto the field. He was a streaker. I knew it was going to happen. He had no clothes, so I played my. Is that all there is? And, you know, I was just ready for that.

[22:07] BETH FINKE: It's one of your best.

[22:08] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah, I love that. And one time there was a swarm of bees, and that was great because I could play my Flight of the Bumblebee or honeycomb. Everything made me think of a song. Everything. If there's a conference on the mound, it was Lean on me or I'll Be there. But if it was the bad guys, you'd play. You talk too much. You know, that was a bad guy and they took him out of the game. You'd play Jaws, you know, goodbye. Gonna get along without you now that's just so funny.

[22:37] BETH FINKE: You know, my husband, Mike, he has this great idea, and I'm gonna put it out there so that Saturday Night Live should do a skit where it's a family who. The mom is a baseball organist. And so the kids walk up, you know, and they say, we're hungry. Then she plays Hungry Fight. Paul Revere and the Raider. I mean, she goes. And everything they do, they wait. I've got a song. And you could do it.

[22:59] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: That's the way we think at home. Words always trigger songs still. Yeah, they still do. It's just the way we do. We sing answers to each other. It seems it's just kind of fun withdrawal after. When you retired, that a song came out and. Or you had an idea for a song. And I must say that when, after I retired, I'd hear songs on the radio and I'd think, oh, that would have been great. You know, And I want to go back there and play that song for a situation. So it can be frustrating when you think, you know, that. I think I could still be contributing in certain aspects. But I must say that as time went on and there were so many other forms of entertainment at games that my ability to play what I wanted, when I wanted was curtailed. And I understood that. So it was just a matter of when. Do you say when? And just be appreciative that you were there so many years when you felt you made a difference? When I felt I made a difference. And the other thing I have to say, the best thing about being there was just meeting the people year after year, and before you know it, they're having children and their children are coming, and you're going to people's weddings and you're going to their funeral and you're visiting them at nursing homes just because of all the generations that have gone by. And I remember I'm on a roll now, but I do know that when we won the World Series, how emotional it would be just thinking of the people that would really have wanted to see that game won.

[24:23] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[24:23] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah. And they weren't there for it.

[24:25] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[24:26] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: You know.

[24:26] BETH FINKE: Did you keep track of fans? I mean, do you still hear from fans? Or when you're out and about, do.

[24:33] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: They keep track of you? Yes. Wouldn't have known you. That's the wonderful thing about them, my job was a cross section of the people that I met and the wonderful relationships that were. That blossomed and still exist.

[24:46] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[24:47] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah.

[24:48] BETH FINKE: I have to agree.

[24:49] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah. So, yes, I do stay in touch with a lot of the people. Not so many of the people I actually worked with, but just fans that sat around the organ. They had season tickets, and we were just like family.

[25:00] BETH FINKE: Yeah. Yeah. And, like, if somebody didn't show, you worried? How come. How come Suzy isn't here?

[25:05] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah, exactly. That kind of thing. Oh, golly. I could. Go on.

[25:09] BETH FINKE: You can talk about how you met.

[25:12] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Let's.

[25:13] BETH FINKE: Okay. Do you want to ask me then? I can. Or do you want to tell me?

[25:18] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Put this. So I'll.

[25:20] BETH FINKE: I'll start.

[25:21] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay.

[25:22] BETH FINKE: How Nancy F. And I met. Yeah, that's right. How should I strike? My first book, Long Time no See, came out in 2003. And I wrote a little bit about you, Nancy, because I lost my sight when I was 26 years old. And the day. I had a lot of surgeries. I have a disease called retinopathy. I had laser surgeries. And that worked for a while, and then it didn't work. Then I had three different surgeries where I was in the hospital for a month. And finally, at the end of that, the surgery, it works in 80% of the people, but I was in the 20% that it didn't work for. So the day they took Mike and me into the little office and they took the patches off my eye and they looked at him one more time and they said, I'm sorry, there's nothing else we can do. You know, you're going to be blind the rest of your life. We did. Mike did. Mike. Mike asked the surgeon, so there's nothing else he can do. And he said, well, I'm a religious man, and in my religion, we believe in miracles, but other than a miracle, so it was pretty definite. So we walked, you know, then we left, and we were supposed to drive home. We lived in Champaign, Urbana, and we drove by, I guess would be the Dan. Right. I don't know which road. We drove by Comiskey, it was still called back then. And Mike saw that the White Sox were playing, and he asked if I wanted to go. And I said, yeah. And so we stopped. We got tickets, we walked in. It was one of those years where there weren't many fans. It was easy to get a ticket. Throughout my eye surgeries, I had to keep my head down all the time. So we sat on the seats. I was able to Lift my head up, and I could eat a hot dog and have a beer and be with Mike. And he. You know, and he could hear the fans bantering around. And I started listening to the organ. I always listened to you, but I really started listening. And when I listened, I could follow the game, because if somebody walked, you would play. This was a Johnny Cash song. I. I walked the line. I walked the line. And so I know. Oh, they must walk. And then you would play Somebody's Watching Me, the Michael Jackson Somebody's watching Me. And that would tell me, oh, they just tried to pick him off at first, because that guy's. At first. So then I could follow that. And then if they. If he was successful, you wouldn't play. You know, I mean, if they were just doing. But if they got him out at first, you would play the Kinks. You really got me. And so then. Oh. And so the people around me were going, whoa. She's. She's like, psychic. How can she follow the game? But it was you.

[27:55] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, that's.

[27:56] BETH FINKE: And so I follow. And then I could guess who the players were. And so it really made me enjoy the game. To me, it was. I couldn't do crossword puzzles anymore, but I could come to games. And I especially liked it when you did something bizarre and he had to really think like you. I could tell there were certain players you really liked, like Travis Hefner, because you would do every play there could be about Hugh Hefner. You'd play centerfold, or you'd play bunny hop, or you go, why is she playing bunny hop? And I try to guess who the player was, and it was Hafner, who sounds like Hefner. And it was like that. And Bus Stop was a good one for Brandon Inge, My husband. Mike's favorite is Gary de Sarcina, who I would have thought you might have played Gary, Indiana. But no, you played have you seen her by the Shylights? Yes. And so it just made. It gave me something special where I could follow the game my own way. I would talk to people next to me, you know, because they would either hear me saying it or we would try to guess. And so it became part of the. They would have to. You know, they'd want to tell me, well, no, he just stole. But they'd make me try to figure out where, you know, did you have a stealing song? Like, when they stole. You must have.

[29:16] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Did I have a stealing song?

[29:17] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[29:17] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: When somebody would be like, somebody stole my heart or somebody's watching me. Oh, yeah. I Did have stealing songs.

[29:26] BETH FINKE: Yes. And so there were ones. I don't know actually.

[29:31] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Why don't we steal away something like that?

[29:35] BETH FINKE: Yes, yes. You're thinking of them right now. Tell me about Nana. Hehe.

[29:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, I want to tell you first though, Beth, about how much it meant for me to finally meet you. Because I read the news, of course, I read about the White Sox the day after opening day when the roving reporter went around to say, what's opening day like for you? And there was an article about the White Sox on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. And somebody said, nancy, you're mentioned in that. And so the roving reporter somehow talked to Beth, a Beth Finke who had recently lost her sight. And she said, oh, but I still enjoy the games because I know what's going on because of what the organist plays. And I thought, oh, that's the nicest thing that I could ever read. I hope my boss read that because I've got a purpose here and it's actually resonating with people and I just wanted to so bad be able. I thought I'll never get to meet that person and say thank you. So I never forgot that. And so when you, 10 years later or so at the new park, came into my booth with your dog, whose then name was Honey.

[30:44] BETH FINKE: That was my dog, Honey.

[30:45] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: You both. And I loved animals too. Yes.

[30:47] BETH FINKE: I didn't know that then, but I found out. Yes.

[30:49] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, you came into my booth and you said something about, well, I've just recently written a book and you're mentioned in it. And of course I realized that you had no vision. And I said, were you by any chance the person that was interviewed in the centerfield bleachers years ago? And you said, yeah, that was me. And it was just like my life was complete. I finally got to meet Beth to say thank you. And I actually read that book and it's probably one of the few that I've ever read.

[31:16] BETH FINKE: I never, you know, you said that when I gave you the book. I mean, I signed the book and brailled it. And then he said, well, I don't read books. I thought, my God, she doesn't read books.

[31:25] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: No, but I read it with so much interest and it just made me very proud to have met you and inspired and. And our friendship has continued and ever since. It was just one of the wonderful things about working for the White Sox. Yeah, yeah.

[31:42] BETH FINKE: We need to use the Kleenex.

[31:44] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And we realized that I was able to meet your husband, Mike.

[31:48] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[31:49] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And we have since Gone to hear some jazz music together and do some more.

[31:55] BETH FINKE: And you come to my book events.

[31:57] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah. You since have written more books. Yes.

[32:00] BETH FINKE: And you since have played. You played the organ. Oh, we're not even. Well, we don't get that. You played for the Bulls. You played for hockey games.

[32:07] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I did, yeah. It was like I said, it was a time before when pre recorded music was not very popular yet. And so. And I think another charm of what I could do is just pick up on the right part of the song. You didn't have to listen to the whole song to get to the three words that were relevant.

[32:29] BETH FINKE: But, you know, actually when we would walk up now I'm thinking too, and we. When we moved to Chicago and we were going to games pretty regularly, you were playing really jaunty ahead of time. I mean, how did you choose When I could hear you? When we get off the L, there's Nancy. And you were. You would play whole songs, did you.

[32:46] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, well, yeah. And I worked. Made it a point to always had songs that were on the top 10. I mean, I just kept changing my style and I always tried to emulate the same. The music that I heard, you know, they use the same arrangements, the correct chords. Yeah. So, yeah, it was always a lot of satisfaction working up new songs that was very popular. So, I mean, anything that was popular in the. In the last 40 years, you heard me playing.

[33:12] BETH FINKE: Yes. And you would do so well. And you want to talk a little bit about Josh Cantor, because I like your. Yeah, going to talk a little bit about Josh and him buying your practice organization.

[33:23] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, Josh Cantor was from the Chicago area, but then he moved out to Boston and he found out there was an opening for the organist position for the Boston Red Sox. But he remembered hearing me play here in Chicago, where he lived originally, and he called and said, could you give me a few tips? And I said, well, come on over to my house. So he did, and we spent the day together. And then he went back to Boston where he's been playing for the Red Sox for how many years? 15 years or so.

[33:51] BETH FINKE: Is it that long already?

[33:52] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And he's just the most humble, talented person you could want to know. And I'm proud to say. And in fact, I'm going to see him next Tuesday when we attend my first Boston Red Sox.

[34:02] BETH FINKE: Oh, fabulous. You know, and I remember you. He asked for the tips and you gave, but the one you said is to stay current on music. Don't play the same things over and over again. Is that. Or something.

[34:12] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I Probably said stay current and simple, because if you play these flamboyant chords, which really take a lot of talent, but if the melody gets lost, then people can't hear you. You're better off just playing one note at a time. And somebody will say, oh, they're playing Iron Butterfly or something, and something really great. Just if they just recognize the melody. So just to keep it simple and slow when you want fan participation. And then you can speed up once they start. I gave them all the tips I could think of because I wanted to keep live music in ballparks.

[34:45] BETH FINKE: Right. Yeah.

[34:46] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And. And they. And I'm glad to say I'm delighted that he's still. That he's there. And I sure hope he's there for many, many more years than he should be.

[34:55] BETH FINKE: I went to hear him earlier this year. Well, we went to ball game. I went to hear him. Mike went to the ball, but we were both there together.

[35:01] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: You were in Boston?

[35:02] BETH FINKE: Yes, we were in Boston. I went to a game and it was interesting because I thought, how was he going to do this? Because, you know, Boston has big screens and stuff, so it's different than how you did it. I wasn't able to follow the game by what he was playing. He doesn't necessarily play what's going on in the game because, like you said, he's not allowed. There's not time. But during the breaks or before the game or actually after the game, too, if people tweet him and say, can you play this? I'm here with my dad and he would like to hear Heart of My Heart. And Josh Cantor will tweet back, stay after. I'll play it later. I don't have time now. I've been following him on Twitter with my little talking phone, and he's great. It's really fun to read what people are saying. Which songs he won't play. I don't know. He won't play ABBA or something. I don't know. He's very funny, so it's fun to follow him.

[35:54] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, the nature has changed. I think it's. What's important is that the employees stay interactive with the fans. And he certainly has mastered that, where he can play at the game and at the same time be tweeting to people. I know it's got to be amazing. Yeah. So it's just so different now. But he's able been managed to incorporate social media with his talents. It's just wonderful.

[36:15] BETH FINKE: And when I still like you when you hear the song on the radio at Home. And you think, oh, that'd be a good one. I. Right now, the. The White Sox have two players. One, his name. His last name is Hamilton, and the other one, his last name is Burr. And I thought, oh, my God, if Nancy had, you could play all those songs from Hamilton on the organ. It would be fit, fabulous.

[36:36] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: But I'd have to go. I'd have to see Hamilton so I could learn those songs. But isn't it like a Roy Burr? And I'm thinking Raymond Burr, you know, and isn't there a player named Polka now or close to.

[36:48] BETH FINKE: Yes. Polka? Yeah.

[36:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Wouldn't that be a ball?

[36:51] BETH FINKE: Yeah, it would be. It would be.

[36:53] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Can you talk about how fans would make requests from you? Like, how. How did they let you know? Or were they just the people who sat around the organ?

[37:04] BETH FINKE: Yeah, why don't you ask the question? So we were just talking about Josh Cantor, and they tweet him. So how on earth did you hear from people in the stands? I mean, what.

[37:16] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, the organ was just out there with the people. It was very accessible. All you had to do was walk up to me and ask me to do something. Besides the people that sat around the organ. I was like, they removed 10 box seats to put the organ in. Perched there, right. With the fans all around me. But besides those fans, anybody just walking behind me in the concourse could just come on over and say hello and give me a suggestion.

[37:39] BETH FINKE: Did they ever come up while you were playing?

[37:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, yeah.

[37:42] BETH FINKE: Could you play and talk to people?

[37:43] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Pretty much. So.

[37:44] BETH FINKE: So you're like Josh Cantor. He can tweet and play and you could talk.

[37:47] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I mean, well, you know, the nature of what I did did change drastically in the last 10 years because I'd wear a headset, and this way I could hear the scoreboard director who's telling about 12 people what to do. And once in a while he'd say, play charge, Nance. You know, whether I thought it was appropriate or not. So, I mean, I. Unless I heard him say, play charge, my job was just more goodwill. I was talking to a lot of people that it didn't matter if I. The opportunity didn't present itself to do my. To create anything too clever.

[38:20] BETH FINKE: So how was your last day? What was that like?

[38:23] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: You know what I think was more emotional than my last day or equally as emotional was the last game at the old ballpark. Oh, yeah.

[38:31] BETH FINKE: At the old Comiskey.

[38:32] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah. I just remember how it was the last game, and it was a day game, and the mounted patrol was there, and being prepared for people to come down the field and grab turf and all that. But it was so orderly and it was just so calm when the game ended that nobody left around the organ. They just sat in their seats. I saw men crying. They just. It was the last day. And then it hit home to me that I put the excitement of a new ballpark away. And I just thought, well, I'll never have the same. The camaraderie that's developed over the years in the new park. The people that surrounded me, they just were distributed all over. We never had that same chemistry with all those fans for 20 years. We'd meet in the winter, we'd have a box 235 luncheon or dinner because that was. I was in box 235. And there was just really good relationships formed. There was Lighter Man. Did you ever hear of Lighter Man?

[39:31] BETH FINKE: No.

[39:32] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay, well, at the old ballpark, Lighter man would show up on a Friday night and play my Take me out to the ball game. And then I'd play Run Around Sue Harry, be up in the booth dancing above me. Lighter man would show up and I don't know. And all the fans got to know Lighter Man. He was a character. And he'd start dancing and he'd open his vest and have all these big lighters in it. And then he'd take remove his vest and remove his shirt. And he had the hairiest chest and the hairiest bag you've ever seen in your life. And that was Lighter Man. But in the new park, Lighter man came by with his children and his 16 year old daughter who just hung on his arm. And I thought my last vision of them was them walking away from the organ. And I thought she never knew about her father's past and she's so proud of him. And she hung on his arm. But the worst part about this story is that then the following year when he came to visit me, he brought me her little card that she had died of a brain hemorrhage over the winter. And I just, I'll never forget. His name was Jim Healy. Lighter Man. And at Christmas time I think of him and I want him to know I never forgot his little girl, Amy, who he'd sit on the bench with me and he'd say, amy, someday you're going to play just like Miss Nancy and I'm going to buy you a keyboard. Well, I mean, I saw her grow up there and little did she know about her dad's past. He was so entertaining and bizarre.

[40:52] BETH FINKE: Maybe better.

[40:53] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: She did. Yeah.

[40:54] BETH FINKE: Speaking of entertaining and bizarre, Take Me out to the Ballgame with Harry Carey singing. Didn't that start with you?

[41:01] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It did. Well, people always sang it. But once Harry started making this presence up in the booth, which was just above me, and I could see him from where the organ was, and they turned the light on in the booth, and he'd start dancing. So then pretty soon all the attention's up there and he's waving his arms and singing along, but you couldn't hear him, but you could see him leading everybody. And this was during Bill Veeck's era. So Bill Veeck, you know, brainy guy that he is, he handed him the microphone. He said, as long as you're going to do this, let's hear you. And I guess he was just so bad. He was good. Had he been any better, he would have been bad. And he agreed to sing along. And that just became a highlight of the game. And then we thought, oh, he's going to North Seidle. They'll never. You know, that won't continue over there because they're so pure and there's just so white love. And, you know, they won't go for this fun loving, guzzling guy. But no, he was really embraced over there, too.

[42:01] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[42:01] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And the tradition lives on.

[42:03] BETH FINKE: It does live on. And the other one is Nana Heihei. How did that start?

[42:08] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Nana Heihei Goodbye is something I played in 1979. Well, this is when it took off. I had played it before, but in 1979, when the White Sox was it, 77. Excuse me. Well, anyhow, they were vying for first place with Kansas City Royals, and it was in the heat of the summer, and the Royals took a player that took the pitcher off the mound. And as he walked away, I played Nana Goodbye. And never had we heard a response like this. All the fans just sang in unison. It was a Friday night, I guess there was a lot of drinking going on, and they just sang along. And it was funny because I was interviewed after the game, and the reporter said, what was that you did? And I said, oh, it's something everybody sings. It's called Sha Na Na. I mean, I just knew it was not. I knew it was Goodbye. I didn't even really know the right name, but it just seemed like the appropriate thing. And the effects were just so profound that we just kept doing it, I guess so. And it became kind of like a little anthem for us. And I remember when the new owners came, they said, can you think of something new? Let's do A new one, but it's nothing that you can predict. It just has to happen.

[43:17] BETH FINKE: It's got to be spontaneous.

[43:18] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Absolutely.

[43:19] BETH FINKE: Yeah. Which you are so great at. I mean that. Yes.

[43:23] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, thank you, Beth.

[43:25] BETH FINKE: Thank you.

[43:25] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Nancy, what are some other creative ways that you've taunted people? And has it ever offended anyone? Oh.

[43:39] BETH FINKE: You mean a taunting song?

[43:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, I know I suppose sometimes I wasn't politically correct, but I don't think in those days, the players were in tune to what I was doing. I was there for the purpose of entertaining fans, and the players just. They did their thing. Although now the tension is more. What song do you want to hear? But in those days, they went, they played, and I was there for the entertainment of the fans. And I remember a fan telling me that some player had gone out with somebody named Lucille, thinking it was guy. I think it was a girl. And it turned out it was a guy. Found out later.

[44:16] BETH FINKE: Okay.

[44:17] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And I remember playing. You picked a fine time to leave me, Lucille. I don't know.

[44:21] BETH FINKE: And you don't know if he noticed or not?

[44:22] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: No, no. Yeah. The fans had. They loved it. Never heard from management. I don't think that would be the case today. I think everybody's just more, you know, in tune. Yeah.

[44:32] BETH FINKE: With what's.

[44:32] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah, right.

[44:34] BETH FINKE: Oh, but that's kind of. That's kind of. That's a good insider joke. The fans would love that.

[44:38] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah.

[44:38] BETH FINKE: And think you were fabulous. You're like, oh, God, she's so cool.

[44:42] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Or somebody would say, oh, that's the richest, most highly paid player. I don't remember who it was. And I'd probably make some reference to the fact that he had too much money. Can't buy a law.

[44:56] BETH FINKE: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, I mean, taunting. So. But I. Yeah, I could imagine if the players were listening, it might bother them, but they're focused on the game. Right. Like you say, this is for the fans. And boy, did the fans love it. I mean, it.

[45:13] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And so, yeah. So to me, it seemed a little strange once.

[45:16] BETH FINKE: The.

[45:16] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I remember. Oh. Then after I'd been there 20 years or so, my boss said to me, you know, in Ohio, they actually play recorded music for the players and those players, and they're in first place. So I think we're going to try that. We're going to play what the players want to hear. And so, you know, that started a different kind of trend. Well, then, in order for me to remain relevant and I thought, it's okay, I played for every visiting player. I gave him a song. Oh. Which made Fun. Because there was. Every three or four games we'd have new names. So it was fun for me. It didn't get stale. Yeah. Always new names to play for.

[45:52] BETH FINKE: Yes. And I think that was where I was. Yeah. You weren't playing the same songs over and over. So that's where it was more like a crossword puzzle for me. What is that? Who could that be? You know, and like I said, the clever one. Oh. Another one I really liked was there was a guy named Jason Jambi.

[46:07] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, yeah.

[46:08] BETH FINKE: And you. And you play Peewee's Playhouse. And I thought I didn't know Jason Jambi from anything but Pee Wee's Playhouse. I said, is. And there was a. Wasn't there a Pee Wee Reese? I mean, but that guy was in the 50s or something. I went Pee Wee's Playhouse, and I didn't guess it. And there's a character in Pee Wee's Playhouse named Jambi.

[46:26] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: There you go. And we were big Pee Wee's Playhouse fans because I had a little boy at the time. And I remember playing. And I don't know that this would have offended him, but he didn't say anything. But there was a player. I think his name was Fred Pytek, but he was very short. And so I'd play Short People or It's a Small, Small World. Yes, something like that.

[46:42] BETH FINKE: But they didn't even notice. And I think you played a lot of. Didn't you play Sesame street songs? I can't remember if somebody was Oscar or, you know. Yeah.

[46:48] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, there were so many great Sesame Street. If it would start to rain. You play Rubber Ducky? Yeah, I've got a new way to walk, Walk, Walk or what? Can you show me how to get to Sesame Street? I mean. Oh, that's just. There's so many. And then when the PA man, the PA would announce, it would say something like, please be kind to your neighbors and let's be respectful. Then I could play It's a beautiful day in your neighborhood, Mr. Rogers. So I'd back it up with whatever he said. That's another thing I could do is whatever the PA address announcer said, I could back that up. And then once we had this brand new scoreboard and I was moved where I could see the scoreboard instead of being in center field. Here I am now behind home plate looking at the scoreboard. Well, we used to welcome so many groups like welcome to the Campbell Soup Group or this United Airlines. And I was able to play their jingle. You know, if they had a jingle that we Knew. Or Keebler cookies or, you know, whatever. Whatever the. Whatever the welcome was, if it was somebody got engaged, I could play Love and Marriage or get me to the church on time. Just a few bars of whatever the scoreboard said. So there was a lot of things to play off of.

[47:56] BETH FINKE: So do you realize how amazing that is because you were watching the game, watching the scoreboard, playing the organ, and then people were coming up and saying, can you play how much is that doggy in the window? And then, okay, yeah, but you could just do that.

[48:07] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: That was my one thing in life. That's the one thing I could do. I was a one trick pony. Oh, but speaking of ponies.

[48:13] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[48:13] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, I told you how much I loved animals. And we know how those promotions of Bill Vex were so wacky.

[48:19] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[48:20] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, do you know about my donkey, Bas? I'm sure I've made reference.

[48:24] BETH FINKE: I have a donkey.

[48:25] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay, well, I'm going to tell you how I came to get a donkey. Well, one of Bill Veeck's promotions was called Ragtime Night. And every promotion would have door prizes, and it kept fans engaged because they knew they might win a door prize. Well, this door. One of the door prize was a donkey that was donated from Adventureland, but it wasn't claimed. And so I remember going to the game the next day, and the donkey was still under the stands, and they said, oh, we're giving it caramel corn and we're feeding it cotton candy. I said, no, no, you can't do that. So, well, it'll probably go back to Adventureland. But I got ahold of Bill Veeck before that, and I said, do you think I could have that? Just tell them. Just tell them that somebody won it and accepted the donkey, and he let me keep it. So that's how I got my first donkey, because I already had a horse. And we lived on a little couple acres where we were able to have our horse, and this was company for the horse. So I had my donkey. Her name was. Well, her name was Rosie. And then my Mexican neighbor was all excited to see a little burrow, and he said, you have a burrow? I said, well, her name is Rosie. He said, rosita. So we changed her name to Rosita.

[49:29] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[49:30] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And so now I have Rosita's successor because she. I had her for many years, though. Yeah. And that's how I came about having a donkey was through Belveck's promotion.

[49:40] BETH FINKE: So did you know Bill Veeck?

[49:42] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I knew him well enough to say hello and ask for his.

[49:45] BETH FINKE: The donkey.

[49:46] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Exactly.

[49:48] BETH FINKE: That was important, you know, I.

[49:49] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: No, but I didn't talk to him much when he owned the team. But then when he. Once he was no longer involved, I did go to a Cubs game and we ran into him, and during a rain delay, we all ended up in this called like a pink pony or some area for the press. They invited me up and he was there too, because it was raining. But normally Bill would attend Cubs games, sit outside with all the fans. He was a real fans person, but he was just so effusive in his praise. Once I no longer worked for him. And I remember he bought us a drink. And then my husband put a $10 or $20 bill on the bar and said, well, now we're gonna. What were you. What are you drinking, Bill? And he. And he took our bill and he just ripped it up. And he said, I don't want your money misfoused. And my jaw just dropped. I said, how can you do that?

[50:32] BETH FINKE: Yes, I'll take it back.

[50:34] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: When we left. When we left, he took it out of the ashtray and put it in Joe's hand. He said, here's your 20. And we probably taped it back together, you know. And now, of course, now we just wish we had left it the way it was. Cause Bill was just such a legend, you know. Colorful legend. Yeah. What a privilege that I was able to work for Bill and work with Harry and meet such wonderful people like yourself, Beth. Yeah.

[50:59] BETH FINKE: Wow.

[51:00] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Shucks. Thanks for being here with me to help me get through this.

[51:06] BETH FINKE: My pleasure. Any last. Is there any. What did you learn from the whole experience? What's your.

[51:13] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Oh, I just learned that it's really nice when you can make a living or spend a lifetime with people that are enjoying themselves. I was very fortunate that I wasn't an assessor, you know, a tax assessor or an IRS agent or something. You would be horrible, actually, you know, or an undertaking or something like that. I was surrounded by people that were enjoying themselves, and I realized the value of baseball, too, because it is an escape for people, and it's a way for families to bond, and not just one family, but generations. And, you know, even when you're a grandpa, you can say, oh, I remember being in the seats with my grandpa, you know, who's long gone, and just all the connections that baseball has to offer people like that. It's a wonderful sport. Yes. Thank you. And I met Beth Finke.

[52:08] BETH FINKE: Yeah. And I met Nancy Faust. 40 minutes.

[52:12] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: What song would Some. What song would sum this all Up.

[52:17] BETH FINKE: Oh, that's a good one for me.

[52:19] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah. Or your experience as a whole. What are some of the songs? So, Beth, give me a good Friend song and I'll play it. Oh yeah, there's a theme from Friends.

[52:30] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[52:32] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: There for you. Do do do do. Right, that one.

[52:35] BETH FINKE: Yes, that's a good one. That would be good because that's. I would think I'll be there for you. Oh, the theme from Friends. I mean, I would have to think it through like that and. But I. I would get it.

[52:46] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Okay. Get that. That's my song for us. Okay. And I. And I used to think, well, what wouldn't be my song if I'm never working for the sax again? And I used to think, oh, it'd be this used to be my playground. Because that's exactly what it was. Yes. And when I did retire, the scoreboard crew made the most fantastic video of my life in music from the time I was like four. They had all these old pictures that my husband had furnished them and a lot of interviews and just they put this fantastic video together. And before they had done it, the scoreboard director just was asking people on the headset, what's your favorite song? What's your favorite song? So I didn't know he was making a video or I would have said this used to be my playground. But at the time I just loved the lyrics to Ordinary Miracle. And it's a song and it was used at the opening ceremony of the Olympics in Canada. And I had just heard it and it was. I think Sarah McLaughlin sang it. And it's just the lyrics that. How we have to appreciate everything about nature is a miracle to me. And I loved the examples in the song. So to me I thought, I love that song. I love her. I just want. That was my favorite song at the time. So when this video was produced, that's the song that was used in the back of it. So it has a lot of personal meaning to me. But I could see where this used to be my playground was more appropriate. Oh no.

[54:09] BETH FINKE: But I think that one. Because Sarah McLaughlin, I know you love animals. I mean, it's one of your causes. I don't know if people understand that you are more than a.

[54:19] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, now that I'm retired, I think I'm more aware of environmental and animal issues. And I feel that everybody needs a voice and we have to be transparent about what's going on, you know, with all these so called natural disasters. And I just, I have a fond respect for science and I just try to promote science and causes that are good for all life. Yeah.

[54:49] BETH FINKE: Thanks for doing that. We need you.

[54:53] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Thank you. Very good. It's all about me. Should we be doing more about Beth? This is all about Nancy. Well, I did want to know something. Yes.

[55:08] BETH FINKE: Okay.

[55:08] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: But I think I may have covered it.

[55:10] BETH FINKE: I think you did.

[55:10] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I wanted to know if you knew. I think we talked about this out there. If you knew, like, how you envision me now. If you knew what I looked like. Oh, before.

[55:18] BETH FINKE: Yeah. Do I know what you look like?

[55:21] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I.

[55:23] BETH FINKE: You know, I've been blind so long now, I don't know how. Over 30 years. There are a lot of things. If I. If you were a fourth grader, I would say I'm like a chapter book. You read the book and you can't. You have to think in your head what it looks like. And I've become so good at that that now I can't remember if I really saw it or not. Do you know what I mean?

[55:47] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: It's just what you have in your head, what it should look like.

[55:50] BETH FINKE: Yeah, I think. But I believe. Here's what I think you look like back when I could see before, 1985. Blonde, small, smaller than what a person would think. Bubbly in personality. And when you played, did you bounce around? Yes. Yes. So I think I did see you. I think I saw you from behind, or I saw, you know. Yeah, you bounced a lot. So you're very enthusiastic while you're playing. And in life, you're very enthusiastic. Although now that I've come to know you as a friend, I know you are also quite serious about a lot of issues. And you care about social justice. And you. You know, there's a. There's another. Not another side. You're both.

[56:35] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, I have the luxury now of time to try to educate myself and read a lot. Not fiction books, but just read a lot. And read a lot of science and philosophers and things like that. So I do have the luxury of time. But what I find is that when you're older and now you're retired and you express yourself, I don't know that you get the same respect that a young person that marches on the street or has a cause. So it's too bad, because young people just don't have the time to even know what's going on half time. They're just working so hard, you know, just trying to get by.

[57:07] BETH FINKE: Isn't it interesting? You know, because, you know, I teach these classes now for older adults and teach them memoir writing. And I used to Think I wasn't so sure about ageism. Is that really something? But it is something. I've learned it from them and from my witnessing people and from how important memoir writing is to them. Because. Because in class, they all. They write an essay and they bring it to class, and during their time when it's their turn to read it, everybody's listening to them. And I think a lot of them, people aren't listening to them anymore. And what a shame, because who are the wisest people? We have people that have lived a long, long life and have witnessed a lot of things and adjusted to things, and so.

[57:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, that's what's so special about you, Beth, is that you've changed their lives so drastically. You've made, you know, you've brought out their ability to express themselves and be heard and made them feel that they have something interesting to say. And they do, and they do.

[58:09] BETH FINKE: And then. So I. It's not exactly like you, but I know what you mean about when you're making other people. You're so glad that you found this work that makes other people happy, and you're part of that. And. And I found this my kind of work where I lead the classes. I listen to them, you know, and they listen to each other, and I'm a part of it, but I'm the one that benefits.

[58:31] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And it was so interesting, right, that here you are on radio with some. With some of your students, because their stories, you have found, and we've all found are so interesting.

[58:40] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[58:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah. How does it feel to be so recognized in terms of baseball, Nancy?

[58:48] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[58:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: To be so recognized for the word.

[58:53] BETH FINKE: I can't say. The reliquary.

[58:55] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Reliquary.

[58:56] BETH FINKE: How did it feel to win this, to go and get your award this year and to tell me. I can't remember how you pronounce it.

[59:01] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I'm going to tell you about that.

[59:02] BETH FINKE: Yes. I don't think you have. I think we haven't been together since you came back.

[59:08] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I got a notice from something called the National Baseball Reliquary last spring, and they said, we'd like to induct you into our shrine of the Eternals. And I told my husband Joe about it. I said, joe, I just got a message from the Reliquarium. I said, they want it, and it's in Pasadena. They're going to fly me out there. And he said, that sounds fishy. He said, reliquarium. And I said, no, no. And then we learned a lot, and we did some investigating. It's a National organization that's been around 20 years. And every year they have 50 candidates and they vote. It's for anybody who belongs to the reliquary. And I think there's thousands of people that belong actually now. And they. So whoever belongs to the reliquary and you can join too, Beth.

[59:57] BETH FINKE: Okay.

[59:58] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Gets to vote. And the top three vote getters are enshrined into this shrine of the internals. Are inducted into the shrine of the internals. So I happened. What I learned was that my name had been one of the 50 for four years, but this year I was the third in votes. So I just made it. I just made it. And the other two were Rusty Staub, who had just passed away. So his sister accepted the award. This was in Pasadena. And then the other was Tommy John. And what they do is they recognize people in baseball who have contributed in ways that are non traditional. Now, Rusty Staub had. Was known for his philanthropy, and he was responsible for millions of dollars for families of fallen firemen and policemen in New York. And then Tommy John, of course, he was known for the surgery that he was first to have, and then he went on to win so many games. And since his first surgery, I mean, since his surgery, so many players now, and some people have had that same surgery. And he was so humble. And he said they should actually call it the. I think his doctor's name was like, or something. He said they should call it the surgery named after the doctor, not after me. But everybody knew the name Rusty Staub or Tommy John. Yeah.

[01:01:15] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[01:01:15] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I'm so sorry. Well, both names, you're right. So. Yeah. But it was quite an honor to be inducted into their hall of fame. And they're located. Their main office is in Whittier at the college in Whittier, California. But they have exhibits in a lot of libraries all over where they.

[01:01:35] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[01:01:35] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So that was really quite a. Quite an honor to be included. And I was. And everybody has to. Is introduced by somebody. Oh, and I was introduced by somebody that was pretty kind of well known in his own right because he used to write for the Chicago Sun Times here and he's written for the Los Angeles Times. He's a really brilliant writer. And his name is Mike Downey, Mike Dhoni. And I knew him when I worked for the White Sox and he was a reporter in Chicago. But we've stayed in touch. He's moved out to California because he worked for the Los Angeles Times. And he is very clever and he was writing a lot of material for comedians out there. And it turned out that one of the comedians. I can't think of his name, but he opened for Dean Martin. And anyhow, through the grapevine, Dean Martin's daughter was able to meet Mike and now married him. Oh, wow. Her name is. Yeah. Gail Martin is Mike Downey. Mike Downey's wife. So they came. We were able to see them when we were in Pasadena, too, and it was just really exciting.

[01:02:39] BETH FINKE: And he introduced you to the.

[01:02:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Yeah, he was. He introduced me at the ceremony. Yeah. The reliquary. You got that?

[01:02:46] BETH FINKE: I'll practice. I won't remember it in an hour.

[01:02:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Well, and then during. So right about the time that I was there. I know you were in Mendocino, and I was concerned.

[01:02:56] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[01:02:57] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Following that fire bigger than waves that engulfed millions of acres.

[01:03:01] BETH FINKE: Yes. And still, you know, I listen now, through the magic of Alexa or whatever, I listened to the radio station from Mendocino because it's a really great radio station. And one of them is still. It's just 98%. It's not completely contained still. I mean, they're still. The fires are still coming.

[01:03:17] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Mind boggling.

[01:03:18] BETH FINKE: Yeah, it is.

[01:03:18] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: And just the ingredients. I worry that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[01:03:24] BETH FINKE: Yeah.

[01:03:25] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: But we'll save that for another day. Let's keep happy. Talk today. Okay.

[01:03:29] BETH FINKE: Do you still like baseball?

[01:03:31] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I follow baseball, and I'm really excited for Boston this year. I Understand there are 11 or 12 games ahead and they've already clinched it.

[01:03:38] BETH FINKE: Yeah, I think they have. I think, you know, I've been. Mike's out of town, so I don't.

[01:03:41] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Pay as much attention when he's gone.

[01:03:43] BETH FINKE: But I think I heard something, or maybe I. On Josh Cantor's tweets. I think there was something there. I learned it all through, and I.

[01:03:50] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: Believe Josh Cantor will get another World Series ring. Well deserved.

[01:03:53] BETH FINKE: Very good. Oh, and your World Series ring, you're wearing it now.

[01:03:58] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: I am wearing it.

[01:03:59] BETH FINKE: May I touch your.

[01:04:01] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: This world. Yeah. Has my name inscribed on it with our record, which was 99 and 63. And right now I think Boston's won like 110.

[01:04:09] BETH FINKE: Won over 100 or something. They're wild. Yeah.

[01:04:12] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: So it was exciting that I was included.

[01:04:14] BETH FINKE: Yes.

[01:04:15] NANCY FAUST JENKINS: But I had been there so many years, you know, I guess I.

[01:04:17] BETH FINKE: Yes. Well, no, you're part of the.