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Dodger Stadium organist plays 'We Didn't Start the Fire' as car burns in parking lot – WPXI

LOS ANGELES — The organist at Dodger Stadium dug into his Billy Joel catalog to play the perfect song after a vehicle caught fire in the parking lot before a recent game.

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As smoke rising from the burning vehicle was visible to crowds settling into their seats at Dodger Stadium as their team prepared to play the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 22, organist Dieter Ruehle played the chorus of Joel's 1989 hit, “We Didn't Start the Fire,” Sports Illustrated reported. Joel's version, updated in a cover by Fall Out Boy in 2023, reached the top spot for two weeks late 1989, according to Billboard.

“The organ player has his cool,” one person posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

As a fan tended to his burning car, the Los Angeles Fire Department tweeted that there were no injuries following the parking lot fire, Sports Illustrated reported.

“We are pleased to confirm that the non-injury fire, which started under the hood of the new mid-size SUV, was quickly extinguished by the arrival of the first @LAFD firefighters,” the fire department said.

“Response time was pretty solid,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “We were escaping into the stadium because we saw smoke around the seats.

Ruehle is known for his creativity. Last season, he serenaded the Oakland Athletics with “Viva Las Vegas,” a reference to the team's impending move to Sin City, according to Dodgers Way, a fan website.

He follows other organists who have delighted fans with their musical choices. On June 26, 1985, Wilbur Snapp, who played organ for the minor league Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Florida, was ejected from a game at Jack Russell Stadium while playing “Three Blind Mice.” after disagreeing with a referee's call. at first base, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Jim Bouton of Ball Four fame once described how an organist, long before baseball players had access to walk-up music, played the 1947 standard, “I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now.” , a reference to critics who called Button's Journal of Baseball's 1969 season a “kiss-and-tell book”.

Gladys Goodding, who played organ for the Brooklyn Dodgers, mournfully played “'How can you say we're done?' as the team played its final game at Ebbets Field before moving west to California, according to the Society for American Baseball Research.

But a car fire in the parking lot? It's a new one!

As for the Diamondbacks, they said goodbye to Hollywood with a 6-0 victory.

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