Bab 53: Statistical Mystery of Baseball Music
October 28, 2011 Friday 7:00pm – Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri
Tayaw is currently sitting on the stadium stands with the crowd and waited for the game 7 of the 2011 World Series of Baseball to start. Tayaw was also here the day before to watch Game 6 where he witnessed the St. Louis Cardinals, in their home ground, finally tie the series against the Texas Rangers. The crowd has predominant Cardinal Jersey wearing fans but there is also the minority that is the Ranger fans doing their best standing their ground.
Tension can be felt in the air as the Cardinals fans are still in a high from yesterday's win and are expecting the team's first championship ring in five years. The Rangers fans are also hungry for the win as they want their first championship this year after the team's brutal 4-1 loss against the San Francisco Giants in the previous year's World Series.
The players were shortly introduced and the game finally started.
Two Rangers had RBI doubles in the first inning against the veteran Cardinals pitcher, who became the first pitcher in a decade to make three starts in one Series. A Cardinal hitter had a game-tying two-run double in the bottom of the first.
After the scoreless second inning, a Cardinal hit a go-ahead homer in the third giving the Cardinals the lead. The crowd erupted in a cheer and shook the stunned Rangers fans. Fifth inning soon came and Cardinals scored another two runs off against the Rangers' star pitcher with straight up homers.
The Rangers fans were given hope in the fifth inning when their most consistent hitter struck a pitch to a high flying ball on the deep center field.
The Rangers fans however felt like they were punched in the gut as the Cardinals' midfielder caught the ball on top of the fence, robbing the Rangers a two-run home run.
The Rangers never had a chance for a comeback as the Cardinals used four fresh relief pitchers to hold them scoreless over the final four innings. The game finally ended with a 5-2 score to the Cardinals. The Cardinals fans went wild and cheered so loud they almost shook the stadium. The fans raised big '11' signs, bragging their 11th World Series Title. The Rangers fans gave up on the game long ago so they were already starting to evacuate the stadium.
"WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!!! 11th BABY!" A fan screamed near Tayaw's ears.
Tayaw, basking in the Cardinals' fans' energy, couldn't help but feel emotional as well. The fans sitting beside him pulled him to a group hug and a few high fives. One even offered him a bottle of beer, which Tayaw chugged in satisfaction because couldn't get one throughout the game because of his age. After spending a few more minutes for the celebration, Tayaw finally left the Stadium.
Halfway on his taxi ride back to his hotel near St. Louis' Lambert International Airport, he suddenly felt a heart palpitation, and getting stronger by the moment. *BADUMP* *BADUMP* *BADUMP*. Tayaw experienced heart palpitations in his previous life but the palpitation he's feeling now is different. It's not causing him difficulty of breathing; he doesn't even feel uncomfortable feeling it. It somehow feels pleasant.
After the cab ran for a few more seconds, the palpitation slowly faded away. "Wait, wait. Stop here." Tayaw hurriedly stopped the driver. "Alright." Tayaw paid the fare and got out of the cab. He was actually about to head back to New York after picking his stuff up from the hotel, but the palpitation was just odd to him. He jogged back, following the route the cab was going. The only explanation he can come up with reason of the palpitation is not health related, nor a bad omen. A pleasant feeling would not come from a bad omen.
A few seconds of jogging later, the palpitations came back again. The palpitation became more intense as he jogged nearer a guitar store. He found it weird for a guitar store to be still open this hour of the night, but went in nonetheless.
The interior of the guitar store looks vintage and well-maintained. He couldn't help but feel the history of the place. There are all sorts of framed platinum and gold vinyl records hanging on the walls. There are also old black and white photos of various African – Americans which Tayaw figured to be famous local musicians of St. Louis as he recognized a few of them.
"Can I help you?" An old African – American man asked Tayaw. "Hm? Oh. I'm just looking. Are you the owner?" Tayaw replied, still not finding why he's having intense palpitations in the store. "Yeah. So, you play, kid? I can help you." The owner said. "Yes sir. I –" Tayaw was about to say an excuse when he spotted an old acoustic guitar inside what looks to be a bulletproof glass case near the counter. *BAADDUUMMPPP* his heart beat the strongest yet as his vision shook.
He unconsciously walked forward towards the guitar and examined it. The part of the body of the guitar where the pickguard is supposed to be looks so worn out to the point that the wood thinned out. The guitar has seen better days but repairing it will ruin its history. There's also a tag below it saying "Earl Thompson" including a photo of the young Earl playing the very guitar in display. Tayaw was surprised to see Earl Tompson's guitar here. Earl Thompson was not a pop-star level famous musician but avid blues and jazz fans and guitarists would have heard of him and his legend.
"Hmm. Earl Thompson's 1912 Babson L-1 Acoustic. One of Earl's first guitars." The owner said proudly. "May I?" Tayaw said, could not wait to play it. "Nahh.. uh uh. No, kid. Unless you buy it, you can't." The owner said, profusely refusing. Tayaw found the owner's reaction reasonable.
"Why has no one bought it yet?" Tayaw asked, finding it odd that a famous guitarist's guitar has not sold. "Well, I just acquired it a month ago. And, it's not like he's as famous as Jesse Johnston. Blues isn't also as popular as it used to be, and blues players are not rich either." The owner explained. ��Although I can't afford it, may I know how much you're selling it for?" Tayaw asked. Tayaw knew that the guitar is genuine from what he feels from it.
"Eighty Grand." The owner replied. Tayaw was surprised. He's not surprised because of how expensive the guitar is, but because of how cheap it is compared to its history. He thought it would go for hundreds of thousands of dollars. An antique Babson L-1 Acoustic from what he recalls is one of the first acoustic guitars released by Babson in 1900's. An L-1 in good condition would go for thousands of dollars, which means Earl Thompson's history with the guitar only costs around at least seventy thousand dollars. Tayaw shook his head, speechless that a guitar by such a legend is so undervalued.
He then looked around the cash register and spotted a working credit card machine. He only has five hundred dollars in his wallet and it's too late in the evening to withdraw from a bank. He only hopes that his Teungebian credit card would work.
Because of his great credit score, and that he's treated as a VIP client by the banks he opened accounts in, his credit card has a monthly limit of 500,000 BGC or $250,000. "I'll take it." Tayaw said to the surprise of the owner.
Half an hour later, Tayaw walked out of the store with the guitar and the papers of authenticity in case. Teungeb was 1pm in the afternoon when he paid so he had no problem confirming his payment.
He hailed a cab and arrived a few minutes later in his hotel room. While his strong heart beat felt pleasant, he'd rather relieve it as soon as possible as he can as it is very distracting and he hopes that playing Earl's guitar would help. He laid the guitar case on the bed and opened it to reveal the beautifully crafted antique guitar.
He picked up the guitar and he cradled it in a playing position hoping to calm his heart down. In the next moment, however, he was pulled away to the white void. 'I see' Tayaw thought, he could only accept the situation. He was also surprised to see that Earl's guitar came to the white void with him. It is the only thing he was able to bring in the void after his previous experimentations.
He saw his View Points currently displayed at a little more than 17 million. It's been a month since his 100 million points were drained in exchange for Peter McKinsey's 'Artist Record'. He looked around and his eyes were caught by a matte white guitar stand tens of feet away from 'Arts Record' letters.
He walked towards the guitar stand, guitar in hand with his heart beating harder than ever. *Click* the guitar glowed with green light after he placed it on the stand. The green light slowly morphed into crystalline sand and formed the glittering words "Incomplete artist Record – Earl Thompson" just above the guitar. "Cool." Tayaw said at what's happening.
"Can I get this thing out though?" Tayaw asked himself and picked the guitar up. Earl's guitar to him is a guitarists' relic; there's no way he's not going to play it or at least brag about it to other guitarists.
The void's green glittering label also disappeared and this time, he no longer felt the palpitation. What he feels on the other hand, are his arms and fingers started to painfully tingle, which feels like what one gets when sleeping on their arm. After a few seconds, the tingling faded away and he felt something change. Tayaw does not know what changed so he decided to test if he can bring the guitar out of the void.
"I wanna get out of here" Tayaw announced to the void and he found himself back in his hotel room, with Earl's guitar still on his hand. "YES!" Tayaw exclaimed. "I just wish I can bring in anything else in the there. It will be like a space-time backpack." Tayaw chuckled at the idea. Tayaw then decided to bring the guitar back in the void.
"Let's try something else." Tayaw said as he sat cross legged on the floor of the void and started playing something bluesy, as a tribute to Earl Johnson. While playing however, his ring finger suddenly made a guitar lick that he never played before. Tayaw found it strange but kept on playing a blues arrangement of his songs. Many minutes later, he realized what the change was.
He gained many playing habits that he knows he never had. The lick earlier was one example, the thumb and finger picking next when he moved on to some chords. "Is this Earl's habits?" Tayaw said to himself, finding it only the reasonable answer after replaying the recent happenings. "Incomplete record, arms and fingers tingling, subconscious licks. Yep. It has to be Earl's guitar habits." Tayaw said dumbfounded, still finding it incredible.
"Wait, how long was I playing?" Tayaw said suddenly in confusion.
Hadiah
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