And finally, the third post in this baseball trilogy: I was surfing stltoday.com this morning — I wanted to see how the hometown press was describing Thursday’s excruciating Cardinals loss to the Nats — when I came across some truly sad news: Ernie Hays is stepping away from the mighty Wurlitzer at Busch Stadium.

Ernie Hays has always played the mighty Wurlitzer at Busch Stadium, including the last Busch Stadium. He’s as permanent a part of my St. Louis memories as the Arch. But at age 75, with the once-dominant role of the organist as the crowd motivator at a baseball game largely gone now, Hays has decided it’s time to step away.

Cardinals games won’t be the same. Here’s Hays playing the Budweiser theme (yes, there is one), which you always hear at the park: