April 29–May 6, 1999

naked city

Hot Seats

by Patrick Rapa

Where: Paul Richardson's booth, 300 level, Veterans Stadium
When: Friday, April 16, 7-10 p.m.

"Best seat in the house," Paul Richardson says, showing off his booth in the 300 level of Vet Stadium. It's a simple wooden box with ceiling-to-floor fishbowl windows and a perfect view across home plate and down the third baseline. You feel like you're right on top of the game. "Every now and then a baseball flies in here."

Most important, it's got a fairly huge Roland AT30 double-decked, big tank of an organ. The Roland company lends him the $26,000 instrument in exchange for publicity. Richardson's got a similar model of his own, which he plays for Phillies fans as they pass through Gate B before every game. He spends about an hour posing for pictures and showing off the tricks the computerized organ can do.

Most of his playing during the game is in short bursts, quick musical exclamation points at the end of each half-inning. He sometimes provides background tunes for commercials on the Phanavision, but these days most of them come with their own sound. Fans who catch foul balls might be rewarded with a two-note "Ta-da!"

Without looking at the keys he synchronizes a hand-clapping sound with the Phanatic's butt-shaking dance on the Phillies dugout. Despite the growing cold, he gets a good response from the 14,817 fans every time he plays the "Charge!" music.

As a ritual, he removes his comb from his jacket pocket and places it on the keys during the sixth. This reminds him that the seventh-inning stretch is coming up. In the middle of the seventh he plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" flawlessly while a nearby booth gets all the attention, throwing what appear to be bags of potato chips down to the crowd.

A Phillies promotion pops up on the big screen, asking fans to name their favorite moment in franchise history. Richardson figures he's missed maybe three games in the 30 years he's been playing (he started in 1970, the Phils' last year in the old Connie Mack), so he's seen a lot of moments. But he can name his favorite right away. "Seeing Tug McGraw get that last out" in the 1980 World Series. "That was a dynamite team."

As he recalls the great players on that team—Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt, Garry Maddox—it gives a little hope for the current Phils. See, Richardson was there in the early '70s when the team waded in mediocrity. "I watched that team develop and come to the absolute zenith. That year, you could feel it, man. And opening day the next year, you get a ring."

Today he's sporting his big shiny 1983 National League Champions ring. He's got another one like it from '93. He saves his flashy 1980 hardware for special occasions.

He's a Phillies fan, of course, and he likes to say he's got high hopes for this season. They're only 10 games into the 163-game season, but he figures the team still needs a little work. "What's the old expression? They're still a couple years away from being a couple years away."