Miller Park organist keeps Milwaukee Brewers fans clapping

Dean Rosko has a superpower: He can command 40,000 people to clap in unison. 

And nod their heads and tap their feet. And polka.

Sitting at the helm of an Allen organ tricked out in Milwaukee Brewers colors and logos — with all the keys, switches and buttons, it's sort of a musical cockpit — Rosko is the mostly unseen musician entertaining Miller Park crowds during games.

Fans who find themselves suddenly yelling "Charge!" while pumping their fist in the air? Who start clapping without even thinking about it? It's because Rosko is playing the "Charge" fanfare or the intro to a Spanish gypsy-themed song called "Espana Cani." 

"As long as they clap, that's the only thing," said Rosko, 33, who was hired by the Brewers when he was 18.

Growing up in Racine, he began pounding on his grandmother's piano when he was 5, started lessons a year later and, by 10, had become intrigued by the organ, playing at a roller-skating rink while still in high school. He heard the Brewers were looking for an organist, auditioned and got the job.

Now he's living the dream.

"It's exciting being here," Rosko said last week before a game against the Phillies. "There's a long history with this particular side of the art. The only major sport that organ really hasn't touched is football. It's in hockey, it's in baseball and it's in basketball."

Last season, Rosko was hired by the Milwaukee Admirals to play at games. He's also the parish organist at Church of the Gesu, which has the largest pipe organ in Wisconsin. He plays at the Riverside and Oriental theaters, has an occasional gig at Organ Piper Pizza in Greenfield and volunteers for the Dairyland Theatre Organ Society. 

At his Kenosha home, Rosko has a 1928 Wurlitzer theater organ and a small Kilgen practice organ from the 1950s. In his off hours, he fixes pipe organs. 

What's the attraction?

"Just the variety of sounds and the power. It's a power trip, admittedly, to make a 120-year-old building (Church of the Gesu) shake or make 40,000 people clap," Rosko said.

During the game, he watches the action from his perch in the control room on Miller Park's third level — he must stop playing as soon as the pitcher toes the rubber or the batter steps into the box. 

He has a lineup of songs he plays before the first pitch and during the game when there's a lull in the action. If a player is injured, he'll play a slower number. If opposing pitchers are taking too long to chat with catchers he might play Billy Joel's "The Longest Time," and if it's a Brewers pitcher and catcher conferring, he'll break out the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends." When a coach asks to review an umpire's call, Rosko sometimes plays the Stevie Wonder hit "I Just Called to Say I Love You." 

Normally, Rosko plays from memory, although sometimes he brings sheet music for theme nights such as Spanish-themed songs for Cerveceros Day and the "Cantina" and "Imperial March" themes on "Star Wars" night. 

During the 7th inning stretch, he plays "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" followed by "Beer Barrel Polka," something he's done for the last 14 seasons.

Despite Miller Park sometimes being called Wrigley North when Chicago comes to town, Rosko has never played a refrain of "Go Cubs Go!" 

"Not gonna happen," he said emphatically. "I didn't even play it when the Cubs were the home team here" in 2008 when Hurricane Ike forced the Cubs and the Astros to play at Miller Park.  

Rosko stays in touch with other teams' organists through Facebook, and his bucket list, like every player, includes playing a World Series. What better gig for a guy who loves baseball and loves to play the organ? 

"It'd be a pretty terrible job if I wasn't" a baseball fan, Rosko joked. "Actually I can't think of any scenario for this job to be terrible."