He was a mediocre conductor of a mediocre orchestra. He had been having problems with the basses. They were the least professional of his musicians.
It was the last performance of the season, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, which required extra effort from the basses at the end.
Earlier that evening, he found the basses celebrating one of their birthdays by passing around a bottle and getting quite plastered.
The performance was nearing its end. As the conductor was about to cue the basses, he knocked over his music stand. The sheet music scattered.
As he stood in front of his orchestra, his worst fear was realized: It was the bottom of the 9th, no score and the basses were loaded.
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What gets me about this is that I haven't watched a single baseball game in my life, but the phrases are so ubiquitous that I still understand that joke.
I have always been amazed the people in non-baseball following countries are able understand the jargon of such a uniquely American sport.
ReplyDeleteIanS
Only through hundreds of mentions in movies and TV shows.
ReplyDeleteI think the wind blew the score off of the stand, but it was put back and secured with string.
ReplyDeleteSo, the score was tied...