”And the home of the brave.”
As the bearded baritone punctuates the patriotic emotion of ”The Star-Spangled Banner,” the Wrigley Field crowd surges, cheering and clapping for Mt. Prospect`s Wayne Messmer.
For more than a decade, Messmer`s rendition of the national anthem has become as much a part of Chicago sports as cheering crowds, beer, hot dogs, popcorn and pathos.
”There is no one who sings `The Star-Spangled Banner` at hockey, soccer or baseball games with greater feeling than he does,” said WGN radio personality Roy Leonard.
”The national anthem is Messmer`s signature, and his voice is synonymous with the Chicago Cubs,” said John McDonough, Cubs vice president of marketing and broadcasting.
”Others do the anthem at Cubs games,” said Gary Pressy, Cubs organist,
”but no one does it like Wayne does.”
”When I introduce myself, I invite the crowd to join in,” said Messmer. ”I do the anthem traditionally, upbeat, the way I think it should be, and it definitely strikes a nerve in people.”
For Cubs fans, Messmer, 41, is in his eighth year as the ”voice” of Wrigley Field.
He is at all 81 home Cubs games as field announcer, greeting the fans, chronicling players at the mound, delivering promotional plugs and singing the anthem at more than half of those games. That makes Messmer a bit unusual in the sports arena because he not only sings the national anthem but is the field or public announcer, a distinction sources say is uncommon at least in major cities.
Put succinctly, radio broadcaster Harry Caray said, ”Wayne Messmer does a terrific job.”
Or, as 16-year old Shaun Sarubbi of Roselle said, ”A Cubs game wouldn`t be complete without Wayne Messmer singing the national anthem.”
Nor would many basketball, football or hockey games. Indeed, Messmer has been a part of the Chicago sports world for a dozen years, ever since he persuaded the now-defunct Sting soccer organization to give him a shot singing the anthem in 1980.
”I kind of talked myself into it at a Christmas party they were having,” recalled Messmer. ”Working for a radio station that carries the games, they figured here comes a disc jockey that`ll do an okay job.
”I went out there and just leveled it. I really let it rip when I sing.
”It kind of floored them, and they asked me to come back and then asked me to be the stadium announcer.”
This year, Messmer sang the national anthem at about 20 Bulls games. He has sung at a handful of Bears games and was solicited by the Chicago White Sox`s Eddie Einhorn in 1982 to do the public address announcements and national anthem at Comiskey Park for three years.
”Wayne has gotten a lot of attention singing the anthem at sporting events, and because of that, the whole field has earned more respect and attention,” said Nancy Faust, the Comiskey Park organist who accompanied Messmer when he sang there during the `82, `83, and `84 seasons. ”Singing the national anthem is now something very coveted and is made worthy of broadcasters taking note of who sings (it).”
Nowhere may Messmer`s rendition of the national anthem fuel fan enthusiasm as much as it does at Blackhawks games. Those, like his older brother Fred, who have stood next to Messmer while he belted out the national anthem, say it is riveting to watch this performer at work, especially at Chicago Stadium, where Messmer`s singing helps whip 18,000 or so Blackhawk fans into a flag-waving, banner-flying frenzy.
”To stand next to Wayne at a Blackhawks game, to just be there at the singing of the anthem is an experience,” said Fred. ”You can feel and see the intensity and emotion when he sings, see perspiration run off his face. After he completes it, you can almost feel the muscles in his shoulders trembling, but then he`s as calm as before he started.”
”He`s so loose before a game,” said Tom Finks, assistant director of public relations for the Blackhawks. ”With 18,000 fans in the stadium, he`s having a hot dog four minutes before the game at the opposite end of the stadium and casually walking back, shaking people`s hands. Yet, he cranks it up and it`s always awesome.”
”I get most charged up when I perform live in any capacity,” said Messmer. ”I always think that any time you open your mouth, it`s me in the role of-which is something you really need to deal with with what I`m doing-playing myself. It`s that standing in front of the crowd when you have to be yourself, expose your talents for what they are. That`s my favorite challenge because then I am putting it all on the table.”
Wayne P. Messmer is the third of four children born to Wayne and Dolores Messmer. He grew up on the Southwest Side of Chicago in the same house his parents live in today. He attended Five Holy Martyrs Elementary School, then Kelly High School at Archer and California.
When he was about 8 years old, he begged his parents for an accordion and soon was emulating tunes from the Lawrence Welk and Mitch Miller shows, performing his new skills as the Saturday night entertainment at a senior citizen haunt in Wisconsin near his grandparents` home.
In high school, Messmer picked up the French horn, which he carried with him into college. It wasn`t until his sophomore year at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, though, that Messmer auditioned and was accepted to the Collegiate Choir.
”He was not really a voice student of mine, but I kept giving him solos because I recognized he had an unusually good voice. I finally convinced him of that in his senior year,” said Dr. David Nott, professor of voice at Illinois Wesleyan.
”I was so surprised when he let out with singing,” said Messmer`s mother, Dolores. ”We pop our buttons many times and get goose bumps sometimes even now.”
College chum and professional musician Ron Bedal remembers when the duo were members of Phi Mu Alpha, a professional musical fraternity at Wesleyan, and when they had their first gig as Ron and Wayne, with Bedal on organ and Messmer on drums. They were paid $35 a night at a local club.
In 1972, Messmer graduated with a bachelor of music degree; his major was French horn, which he no longer plays; his minor was voice. He worked as a substitute teacher in the Chicago Public School system for a year followed by a teaching position in K through 8th grade general music at St. Turibius on Chicago`s Southwest Side while working on his master`s at Loyola University. He earned a master`s degree in guidance and counseling in 1974.
After college, Messmer pursued serious voice studies with teacher Melba Thrasher in Chicago but lost touch with her over the years. ”She was truly the person who taught me more about singing than anyone else,” said Messmer. He then spent three years at Chicago`s City Hall working as a job coach in a federally funded program, matching the unemployed with city jobs under the Comprehensive Employment Training Act. It was about that time that he was accepted at Northwestern University for doctorate studies in psychology. But in 1975, a stint on the radio helped shape his destiny and put his aspirations for a Ph.D. on hold.
His first gig on WXFM was reading commercials on a German-language program (a task performed phonetically), later changing with the station format to report the weather, spin jazz records and produce an old-time radio program with records from shows of the `30s and `40s. When that station changed its call letters and format again, Messmer became the sports director for WAGO. When the station again changed its call letters to WCKG, Messmer continued to cover sports. In the interim, he served as a disc jockey for a national broadcast on the Saturday Music Network from Mokena.
In the early `80s, he also was the program host for a big band format on WAIT. In 1987, he began a five-year association with Capitol City`s ABC stations, first as the newscaster and sidekick to deejay Paul Barsky on WYTZ
(Z95), then to WLS talk radio as the mid-day newsman.
With all of this radio work, Messmer juggled his sports announcer career, which began with the Sting in 1980. Still, he never gave up a love for singing. On the night of his college pal Bedal`s wedding in 1985, Messmer sang ”Ave Maria.” It was also the night Bedal`s ensemble of studio musicians formed the Sgt. Bilko Memorial Orchestra, with Messmer singing lead vocals. The group performed regularly for three years at places such as Orphan`s, a now-shuttered Chicago nightclub, then re-teamed for the NBC Tower Grand Opening in 1989. ”Wayne could sing anything,” said Bedal, ”but I think his forte is certainly swing music.”
”In the music biz, we call guys like Wayne Messmer a monster because of his diverse talents,” says Fred Winston, who is in broadcast talent management and a musician. ”He has such a monstrous talent in so many facets of the music business. He writes, produces, arranges and plays.”
In fact, it was Messmer`s multifaceted career that prompted him make the move from the Sox to the Cubs.
”It made sense for him to leave when he had an early morning drive radio show,” said Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls. ”It didn`t make sense for him to be at Sox park until midnight the night before. As far as the Cubs job, those are mostly day games.
”Although we (now) showcase different talent,” said Reinsdorf, ”there is no one better than (Messmer).”
With his Chicago celebrity status, said Messmer, comes a responsibility to be a good role model for youth, inspired by a childhood visit to the old Milwaukee Braves clubhouse.
”It`s a moment I`ll never forget,” said Messmer, ”especially when a child comes up to me and asks me for my autograph and I know I have had an impression on him. I owe it to this kid to be the person he sees me as and the moment I internalized that concept it changed everything and made it much more fulfilling doing what I do.
”I take the anthem title very seriously-very patriotic, squeaky-clean, red, white and blue-and the guy who sings the national anthem. It`s a nice image, wholesome family image, and I try to think of myself in those terms. I`m very careful about protecting that image because I think it truly is one I think can fall into the category of role model for kids: a guy who has a cool job and does it well,” said Messmer, who does a lot of personal appearances at schools and youth groups.
”Having grown up in Chicago, doing this and getting recognized in your hometown is a great feeling. If I were to move to Pittsburgh and do something like this, it would be real nice, but you don`t have the kids you went to grade school with and your mom and dad able to watch what`s going on.”
Nor would he have met his wife, Kathleen. In 1981, he was cast as Petruchio opposite her Kate in the musical ”Kiss Me Kate” at the Theater on the Lake in Chicago.
Kathleen recalled that the entire cast, including herself, thought Wayne a bit eccentric when he would spend offstage time in a corner with a radio pressed to his ear. When she found out he was listening to sports, there was an instant attraction: Both share a love of music as well as sports.
The two married on Jan. 14, 1984, in a ceremony at the Old Orchard Country Club in Mt. Prospect before 85 friends and family members, including Kathy`s two daughters, Jennifer and Stephanie Klein, from a previous marriage (they have none together).
Wayne sang ”Long Before I Knew You” from the show ”Bells Are Ringing,” and Kathy sang ”With You” from ”Pippen.” Then the pair sang
”They Were You” from the musical ”The Fantastiks.”
”What added to the ceremony and made their wedding so very special was the warmth and sincerity of the words they expressed to each other. Their singing to each other gave me goosebumps,” said Cook County Judge Arthur Perivolidis, who presided over the 1984 nuptials.
”They have such a chemistry offstage that it carries onstage to their performances,” said Messmer`s sister Tina Messmer, ”These two are definitely made for each other.”
In fact, the pair perform together, sometimes in a cabaret act, sometimes singing the national anthem. They`re booked about 12 times a year for after-dinner entertainment, fundraisers, bar mitzvahs and weddings.
”When someone is looking for entertainment, rather than flame throwers or exotic dancers, they`ll ask for us,” said Messmer. ”Our voices, timbre and tone, blend well.”
Kathy, a full-time substitute teacher at Park View Elementary School in Morton Grove and, in the summer, girls activity director at the Discovery Day Camp in Prairie View, does community theater in the spring and fall, while Wayne, because of his business constraints, is usually only available to perform in theater with his wife about once a year. The pair plans to record a Christmas album.
Messmer tackled another aspect of his career last year when he took the role of a New York Yankees radio announcer at Wrigley Field for the Universal movie ”The Babe.”
”I kind of fashion myself as a bit of a Renaissance man in that I feel I`m very lucky to have been given a lot of different kinds of talent,” said Messmer.
Challenge is the name of the game for Messmer who, in addition to his sport, theatric and consulting commitments (he has developed a copyrighted media training program for anyone from athletes to business), recently assumed the full-time position of vice president of marketing and development for the Clearbrook Center, a private not-for-profit center in Rolling Meadows for developmentally disabled children, adults and their families.
Said Dr. Guerin Fischer, president of Clearbrook: ”Now and then a person applies at Clearbrook and brings many skills, strengths and knowledge of the field without having to go through a period of training in regard to the new job. Wayne is that type of person. That`s important because fundraising and development is an on-going responsibility at Clearbrook, and Wayne was able to bring built-in resources for his new area of responsibility.”
”I like building the machine. The standing by and flipping the switch doesn`t fascinate me,” Messmer said of his plans to work to increase participation and contributions to the center. ”I like the challenge and I`m motivated by the fact that there`s more out there. I am not motivated by notoriety or financial gain. It`s nice if they come with it, but those two things must be kept in perspective. I think it`s the internal payoff-job satisfaction and intelligence stimulation-more than anything else,” said Messmer.
And while he`s got several careers, Messmer still hopes to complete his doctorate and become a psychologist.
”More than anything else, I want to be a psychologist,” said Messmer.
”If I had a couch in an office, could do independent projects and still do the Cubs and Blackhawks. I`d be happy.”
