"All that is good and fine, JR," JR's analyst says, "But I'd like to know what you did dream of."
"You see, they pronounced Maranville with the stress on the second syllable, Muh-RAN-ville," JR says, "Whereas all my life I've stressed it on the first syllable, MAR-an-ville. The movie did..."
"Thought you were watching Breaking Bad."
"Better Call Saul."
"Yes, Better Call Saul. I thought you were watching that."
"Yes, exactly," JR says. "But someone on the episode had the TV turned up and a movie (Born Yesterday) was playing and the movie mentioned Rabbit Maranville, not once but twice... And I thought, oh that's how you pronounce it."
"Have you checked to see if the movie got it right?"
"Not yet, I mean, no, who/what would I check, I don't know any Muh-RAN-villes, or MAR-an-villes for that matter."
"Ah huh."
"Wait, I could check OOTP's pronunciation. I understand some guys have gone over the game's pronunciation of historical players to see if they're correct," JR says.
"Sounds like a project for this week," his analyst says. "Now, what did you dream about?"
[Note: OOTP goes with the movie's pronunciation of Muh-RAN-ville.]
"I dreamed, I dreamed, of, strange to say it—"
"That's OK."
"I dreamed of Alonso Flinn."
"Any details?"
"Yeah, I was watching a ga—, no wait, I was in my office watching tapes, or digis, of Flinn playing, and when he played 3rd there was a number, a bright violet number, or two numbers, a 0 and a 5, dancing up and down and all around, sometimes it looked like a 05, sometimes a 50; but then he moved to left field, and there were two 5s, the 0 had turned into a 5, a bright yellow 5, two yellow fives, and they danced and gamboled—"
"Gamboled?"
"A word I heard on Breaking Bad, or in Better Call Saul, I don't know, Doc, I'm addicted to them both."
"The numbers gamboled..."
"Yes, Doc, they gamboled and jumped and leaped, two yellow 5's; then, suddenly they ran and gamboled, and hopped and skipped from left field, what's more, they skipped over third base—deliberately I think—and they danced and spun to first and the 5's disappeared, both of them, the two bright yellow 5's disappeared, or actually they were eaten, yes eaten or swallowed, by a vivid green 0—"
"So, the 0 was back?"
"Sure, the 0 and now it was paired with a 6, and the numbers spun around over first base, two bright green numbers, and sometimes it looked like a 06, and sometimes like a 60! And my angst, I had this angst—"
"I'm not surprised" JR's analyst says, "Angst's been going around."
"But my angst, or what I didn't know had been angst, this tightening in my chest, this pain in my stomach, when that bright green 0 and 6, or maybe it was a 06, or a 60, I was spellbound by those numbers, more than by the others. And, finally it stayed a 60, and the 60 spun around and then it took off, and it filled the sky above the stadium—"
"The Kum & Go."
"Yes, the Kum & Go, Kid Krauss's Kum & Go Stadium, it was jam packed, Standing room only. And there was a high-pitched tone, and that 60 spun and spun and grew and grew until it filled the sky, and then the 0, it swooped down into my office, where I was watching the tapes, and the 0, it got smaller and smaller and then it began to smile, yes, Doc, the 0 began to smile, and then it turned into a face, with eyes, green eyes, and a nose, an upturned nose, like my cousin has, and then lips, and— and— it was his face. His face. Again! Again, Doc! What do I do?"
"The face of whom?"
"The face of Alonso Flinn, Green eyes, dreamy green, that cute upturned nose, those red lips, full yet firm, firm yet— Doc, what do I?!"
"Um, well, JR," doc replies, "this isn't the first time you've mentioned an attraction to Alonso Flinn. Last time you were concerned about a bromance between you and Alonso."
"No, Doc, that wasn't me who was concerned, it was my father who was concerned, you know Dad's very conventional."
"And we've talked about not having to please your father."
"Yes, I know," JR says. "It's that Flinn, Alonso, Number 19 on the team. What do those other numbers mean? The 0 and the 6 or is it 60? The 55 and the 50, what could they mean? Dancing at those positions?"
"Something to look into..."
"Meanwhile," JR says, "I finally called him. I mean I went by his locker when he was off the IL. And, yeah, he was there. Alonso, my Alonso."
"We've got 5 minutes left."
"Good, because there was something else in my dream. Two mighty dust storms, or tornadoes, they both rose in the sky above El Paso, of all places, they twirled, they twisted, like white pretzels, they charged into one another. Sparks came out of them. They sparred. They spurred. They, like, attacked each other, these two tornadoes in the skies of El Paso, I knew it was El Paso because I could see the park with the fake alligators. And just when the fight between the tornadoes was at its roughest, the alligator statues, they turned into real alligators, and they came up, the two of them, with one poised below each tornado, and both alligators opened their mouths, yet only one tornado was eaten, the other danced on the nose of the alligator, and this tornado turned into a baseball bat, and it stood there twirling on the one alligator's nose. And..."
"JR, we've got to stop here. But I suggest you write the rest of this dream down. And hey, about this 'bromance' with Alonso Flinn. I don't see anything troublesome about it. After all, he was your first BBA draft pick. I suggest you let things play out."
"Thanks, Doc," JR says. "See you next time."
"See ya later..."
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