Jane, Queen of Thomas

Yesterday's score was briefly Marlins 8 Mets 1. It was a Sunday. I even managed to wear the same 2006 Division Champs shirt I wore to Shea when that scenario was last in effect. I'm glad the final was 8-2. Well, glad wouldn't be nearly the right word, but I've had enough Marlins 8 Mets 1 Sundays to last me into the next ballpark.

Jane Jarvis was in the house yesterday. Jane Jarvis was out in centerfield for the revealing of the number that indicates how many games are left at Shea. Jane Jarvis is, to date, the best invitee of the season. She may be the best they have all year.

Jane Jarvis was on the Thomas Organ for sixteen seasons, the first sixteen seasons of Shea Stadium. She was the sound of Shea. She and us. That's all you needed. All we knew of Jane was her picture in the yearbook and the Thomas Organ ad, the one we were told was her keyboard of choice. When Shea was the happiest place on earth in the '60s and '70s, it was Jane who set the tone.

You may recall a serious accident at an East Side apartment building this March, one where a crane collapsed and killed several people. Residents needed to be evacuated, among them Ms. Jarvis, 92. It was more than a little disorienting.

“I guess my world fell around me,” she told the Times. “A lot of people get hurt by things like this, and no one even suspects it.”

Between the accident and the final season at Shea, people wondered how she was doing and if she'd be back for one more appearance. It was disheartening that the Lincoln Mercury representatives and other nonentities had been getting the call to take down a number while true icons of Shea were going ignored. No icon of Shea was truer from 1964 to 1979 than Jane Jarvis. In May, she told SNY.tv's Barry Wittenstein that she hoped she could be part of the stadium farewell.

Yesterday she was. She's relocated to New Jersey, she's in a wheelchair, but she's still Jane Jarvis. When that recording of “Meet the Mets” went up on the PA, you were reminded that Jane Jarvis never left Shea Stadium even if she hadn't been organist in residence since 1979. Before, during and after her introduction for her countdown moment at least one fan applauded wildly from wherever he was.

Jane Jarvis, you may have heard, is more than a ballpark organist. She's an accomplished jazz musician. She was an executive with the Muzak corporation. She's recorded a slew of albums. She can still play. I learned that a few years ago.

My wife runs a senior center in midtown. The church that hosts the center invites the community in for midweek, midday jazz concerts. On the bill one Wednesday afternoon in the fall of 2003 was Jane Jarvis. She was the featured attraction, backed up a small combo. Jane Jarvis, then in her late 80s, was playing the piano and playing it with elan. She was playing with style. She was playing with heart.

The only thing she wasn't playing was “Meet the Mets”. This was the other side of Jane Jarvis, the one for whom Shea Stadium and the Thomas Organ was a gig in a lifetime of gigs. She had moved on. I, of course, hadn't. As happy as I was to be feet away from a legend, I was waiting and waiting to hear one of the only two songs I associated with Jane Jarvis.

The show was ending. Stephanie, as emcee of the event, informed the audience that in case you didn't know it, Ms. Jarvis was the organist at Shea Stadium for many years and if we all encourage her, maybe she'd give us a little of her signature tune. This wasn't a crowd of baseball fans (I think her Shea credentials came as news to most of them) but they were up for it. Everybody applauded.

Jane had this look of “I've been a serious musician for 75 years and you want to hear what?” But, pro's pro, she departed from her set list and dove right in to “Meet the Mets”. It was just a few bars, but it was dreamy.

Until she segued into the other song I associate with Jane Jarvis: “The Mexican Hat Dance”. And that was off the charts thrilling. Jane Jarvis' “Mexican Hat Dance” is the ultimate pregame soundtrack in my mind. Always will be. And here it was, a command performance almost.

The audience in the church knew exactly when to clap. Just as I did yesterday.

After that 2003 performance, I brought my giveaway CD from 1996 up to the piano, thanked her for playing those two songs and asked her to autograph the liner notes. She did so, regally. Why not? She's Jane Jarvis, Queen of the Thomas Organ. Her playing will always rule.