Robert Bardwell, also known as "The Phantom of Jacobs Field

Jacobs Field

Progressive Field is a ballpark located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and is the home of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball and the American League. Along with Quicken Loans Arena, it is part of the Gateway Sports and Entertainment Complex...

," is the former organist for the Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

.

Bardwell was hired in 2001 as the Indians' music director, a position that also required him serve as the organist, playing familiar songs such as Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song. The song is traditionally sung during the seventh-inning stretch of...

, the Tarantella

Tarantella

The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...

, the Star-Spangled Banner

The Star-Spangled Banner

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...

, O Canada

O Canada

It has been noted that the opening theme of "O Canada" bears a strong resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" , from the opera Die Zauberflöte , composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that Lavallée's melody was inspired by Mozart's tune...

 and the Charge

Charge (fanfare)

"Charge" is a short fanfare frequently played at sporting events.-History:"Charge" was written by Tommy Walker while a junior at the University of Southern California in the fall of 1946...

 fanfare, as well as God Bless America

God Bless America

"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....

, which Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 required teams to play following the 9/11 attacks. Because the stadium did not use a traditional organ, Bardwell played a Ensoniq

Ensoniq

Ensoniq Corp. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid 1980s and 1990s for its musical instruments, principally samplers and synthesizers.- Company history :...

 keyboard with a classic ballpark organ sample stored on a floppy disk

Floppy disk

A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...

. During pitching changes and delays, he played other music to pump up the fans, and he was also tasked with playing favorite songs selected by players who were up to bat.

Bardwell became something of a local celebrity in 2002, when The Plain Dealer ran a feature piece dubbing him "The Phantom of Jacobs Field." He left the Indians in 2006.

Bardwell is now a product manager for Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young

Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....

, one of the world's largest professional services firms, and a co-founder of Strongsville Money Tree.

In addition to his work with the Indians, Bardwell is a member of the St. John Neumann Life Teen

LIFE TEEN

Life Teen, Inc. is a Catholic youth ministry organization and movement originating in the United States. It was established in 1985 at St. Timothy's Parish in Mesa, Arizona to "lead teens closer to Christ." Life Teen believes that "Eucharist-based ministry has the power to transform teens,...

Band,