Cubs organist Gary Pressy to retire at season's end

A long run of sweet music at Wrigley Field is sounding its final notes.

Garry Pressy, the longtime organist for Chicago Cubs games, is retiring at the end of this season. The news first was reported on Twitter Saturday by the Daily Herald.

Pressy took over as the Cubs' full-time organist at Wrigley Field for the 1987 season after playing for the final three games in 1986.

"It's been a third of a century," he said. "That's a long time, 33 years, and I'm happy I made the decision, and life will go on."

At the end of the regular season, Pressy will have played for 2,687 consecutive games. He said he hopes that continues into October for postseason play.

As for favorite moments, Pressy has one.

"I tell you what, it happened in 2016, on a Saturday," he said. "The NLCS Game 6, shut the Dodgers out and got to the World Series. That's the top. But driving to the ballpark for Game 3 of the World Series, I put on a 1945 Cubs World Series game from Game 7. The atmosphere was unbelievable when you walked in here."

Pressy's repertoire has spanned the generations, and he has his favorite songs to play.

"Obviously, 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame,'" he said "I still love 'Hey Hey, Holy Mackerel.' That's a fixture here at the ballpark from 50 years ago. I love all types of music from the Big Band era to the Lady Gaga era. That's the thing about Wrigley Field. You have all walks of life - older people, younger people, and they love the different types of music that I play."

Pressy was brought in by former Cubs marketing chief John McDonough, now the president of the Chicago Blackhawks.

"John McDonough hired me, and I thank him, and I thank the Ricketts family for all these years," he said.