REVELATIONS
FIVE
The Doctor was strolling through the TARDIS, blowing on a harmonica.
Rose didn't play any musical instruments, but she recognized a sour note when she heard one, and she was hearing quite a few. She grimaced and wondered how she might distract him away from his current endeavor. She put down her book and padded after him.
"Doctor, how about a game of chess?" It was one of his favorite games and he'd proudly acquired many beautiful and fantastic chess sets during his lifetime. He had been patiently teaching her tactics and strategies; she diligently studied various openings and was making an effort to become a worthy opponent.
He paused, looked at her, shrugged and continued 'playing'.
"Go?" she asked. There was no response. "Checkers? What about Xiangqi?"
The Doctor loved all abstract strategy games; he had lectured her at length about combinatorial game theory, probability theory, and Von Neumann-Morgenstern game theory. Rose had never known him to turn down an invitation, but there were many other types of games in the TARDIS… She wasn't giving up, not yet.
"Mahjong?" He shot her a pained look and shook his head. "Backgammon?" Again, no response. "How about cribbage?" she finally asked with a sly grin, knowing full well it was the game Jack and he played; she never played cribbage with The Doctor – had never been asked.
The Doctor recognized bait when he saw it. "Do you fancy a game, Rose?" he asked, lowering his harmonica.
Rose nodded, "Do you?"
"How about baseball?"
"You want me to play baseball?" She stepped back and looked at him incredulously.
He smiled. "No, not play – have you ever been to a game?"
She shook her head.
"You know, many on your planet believe baseball is the ultimate combination of skill, timing, athleticism, and strategy. Some of your world's greatest poets, including Walt Whitman and Robert Frost, have written about it. Many famous quotes were born from it including 'It ain't over till it's over', 'Déjà vu all over again', and the lesser known but perhaps more lyrical 'The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love'."
Rose was standing there stunned, blinking at him, wondering what he was about.
"Well, you like cricket, don't you?"
She shook her head vehemently.
"No matter, how about I take you to a baseball game? And not just any baseball game! How about the most exciting baseball game ever played?"
Rose nodded dumbly. At least he'd stopped playing the harmonica.