|
 It begins with a young lady, Lorenda Kirby, who turned
17 earlier this month. Now the age of 17 isn't one of those
"special" birthdays -- not like 13, where one is finally a teenager,
nor 16, when one is eligible for a driver's license. Even so, as
many parents have probably also realized, as a child gets older, it
seems to be a more difficult task to find that "one gift" that you
know will be just right.
Lorenda's grandmother, Pat Kirby, had a knack for finding that
"right" gift for a person. She passed away just before Lorenda
turned 4, but her dad always has tried to do his best to continue
that legacy of finding just the right gift for his daughter.
Lorenda's dad has always thought she is the best daughter a
father could ever hope to have. Responsible, courteous and friendly,
her interests are as wide and varied as the day is long. Even so,
she does have a few "mainstay" things she likes and talks about from
time to time.
One such mainstay was her being a fan of Michael Jackson's music.
For the past year or so, when she learned he was planning a comeback
concert series in England, she regularly asked her dad if he had
learned anything new about the comeback and if M.J. was planning
concerts in the United States. Frequent online searches about
concerts in the U.S. yielded nothing but speculation about their
likelihood.
With his passing near the end of June, so went Lorenda's hopes of
ever getting to see him in concert (or, as she text-messaged her dad
later that day: "There goes my life goal.").
It was Lorenda's interest in seeing Jackson in concert (and the
fact that it would never happen) that caused his death to have a
profound influence on her father. Sure, he remembered his older
sister being a fan of the Jackson 5, and he remembered watching the
Jackson 5 cartoons as a kid. He recalled the significance of M.J.'s
"moonwalk" across the stage during his performance at the Motown
25th anniversary celebration, as well as the television premieres of
some of Jackson's big videos, such as "Thriller" and "Black or
White." While Lorenda's father enjoyed Michael Jackson's music, it
was the fact that it was important to Lorenda that made him feel the
biggest loss of all upon learning Jackson had died.
As it happened, Lorenda, her dad and her stepmom were on vacation
to the East Coast shortly after Jackson died and were able to visit
the Apollo Theater in Harlem the day after his memorial service, so
Lorenda could sign the memorial wall and get a few commemorative
T-shirts from vendors outside the theater.
Although admittedly biased, her father thinks Lorenda is a good
person. He has been guilty on more than one occasion of indulging
some of her random quirky affinities, such as for Andy
Warhol-designed purses. Although she regularly expresses an interest
that she "has to have" this or that, she really doesn't ask for
much. Thus, upon contemplating a present for her 17th birthday, her
dad wanted to do something extra special for Lorenda that he knew
she would enjoy. After the passing of Michael Jackson, he especially
wanted to try to do something for her that might have a limited
window of opportunity.
Through no doing of her father's, Lorenda is a fan of the St.
Louis Cardinals baseball team, and there have been several Cardinal
players that she has particularly liked: Edgar Renteria, Scott Rolen,
David Eckstein, Reggie Sanders and flash-in-the-pan Bo Hart. But one
she's particularly been a fan of is outfielder So Taguchi.
Taguchi was a reserve outfielder for the Cardinals who filled in
extensively while others were injured in 2005, compiling a .288
batting average that season while playing solid defense. He made a
name for himself in Cardinals' lore when he hit a ninth-inning home
run that gave the Redbirds the lead during Game 2 of the 2006
National League Championship Series that year en route to a world
championship.
Taguchi was released following the 2007 season and signed with
the Philadelphia Phillies as a reserve outfielder for 2008. With
Lorenda's dad being a longtime Phillies fan, he made sure they
attended the Phillies' games when they were in St. Louis. Lorenda
was excited to see Taguchi in person, calling out to him during
batting practice at each of the games they attended and receiving a
wave of acknowledgement from him in return at each game.
Following the Phillies' world championship season of 2008,
Taguchi was released and signed with the Chicago Cubs. But
subsequent roster moves by the Cubs resulted in Taguchi playing this
season in Des Moines for the club's AAA affiliate, the Iowa Cubs.
Taguchi turned 40 this past July 2 (a day before Lorenda's
birthday, coincidentally), and although he's hitting just under .300
this season, one wonders how much longer he will be playing. The
schedule on the Iowa Cubs' Web site indicated that a "Jersey Off
Their Backs" promotion was to be held July 17. Fans would be allowed
to bid in a silent auction for the right to receive a player's
game-worn autographed jersey, with the proceeds going to the
Muscular Dystrophy Association. The fan with the winning bid would
be allowed to go onto the field following the game and get the
autographed jersey from the player they chose when they submitted
the winning bid.
After calling the team to check into the details of the charity
auction (and to make sure people could bid on the jerseys of
specific players), plans were made for a trip to Iowa. However,
Lorenda's dad wanted to keep the goings-on a surprise to her.
As the trip unfolded, there were a few signs that perhaps this
wasn't meant to work out.
At various times, the sky appeared dark, even though the forecast
and radar indicated no rain in the area. A few raindrops appeared on
the windshield of the vehicle, but fortunately the rain held off.
[to top of second column]
 |
Upon arriving at the park, Lorenda realized the significance of where she
was and, knowing Taguchi played for the team, thought she was just there
to see him play. Walking to the seat section listed on the tickets
(which was down the right-field line, where Taguchi has been playing
recently), the Kirbys passed a large display board that listed the
starting lineups for the game. Taguchi wasn't in the starting lineup.
While Lorenda and her stepmom explored the facilities of the
ballpark, Lorenda's dad snuck back to the area where the silent
auction was being held. Bids were to be written down on paper and
would be accepted through the end of the sixth inning. He found the
bidding sheet for Taguchi's jersey, noticed no bids had been placed
yet and wrote down a bid for the opening minimum amount before
heading to his seat.
A few innings later, Lorenda's dad went to the concession stand
and checked the bidding. Another bid had been written down that
raised the amount by the minimum $10 increment. He decided to check
back later.
Perhaps it was a bit of a public relations gaffe by the team, but
during the game there weren't any public address announcements that
publicized the auction. However, that was all right with her dad, as
it kept Lorenda from knowing about the auction.
After the fifth inning, Lorenda's dad walked back to the bidding
area to await the end of the sixth inning. As he casually circled
the tables of items and noticed a few people perusing the sheet of
bids for Taguchi's jersey, he overheard the person in charge of the
auction saying that the auction ended promptly at the conclusion of
the sixth inning, but people could still write bids down until the
bidding sheets were physically removed from the table.
Lorenda's dad tucked that piece of knowledge away and made his
way back to the sheet for Taguchi's jersey. Two more bids had been
placed. He then looked to the television monitors in the concourse:
The first half of the sixth inning had been completed, so there were
only three more outs to go before the bidding was closed.
He placed another bid, but soon after, two more bids had been
placed. One out now had been recorded in the bottom of the sixth
inning.
He waited until the crowd cleared and wrote down another bid,
this time raising the amount by $15 in the hopes of deterring other
bidders. As the second out was being recorded on the field, one of
the previous bidders came up and wrote down another bid.
Because this was for Lorenda's birthday -- and especially after
they'd driven five hours to get there, only to find that Taguchi
wasn't in the lineup (although he entered the game in center field
during this round of bidding) -- he wasn't going to let this slip
away. Since the third out of the inning could come on the very next
pitch, he quickly went and wrote down another bid.
After a few pitches had been thrown, the other gentleman wrote
down another bid; as he did so, the third out of the inning was
recorded. The director of the auction yelled, "That's three outs;
pull 'em" (referring to pulling the bidding sheets off the tables).
Lorenda's dad quickly wrote another bid on the sheet beneath the one
the other gentleman was completing.
The other man turned and said, "The inning's over; that's the end
of the auction." Remembering what he'd heard before, Lorenda's dad
responded that he understood that bids could be entered until
workers removed the bidding sheets. Just as he finished his spoken
sentence, one of the workers came by and removed the bidding sheet.
The other gentleman was clearly perturbed, and it looked as if he
was going to protest how things transpired. However, he simply went
to the director of the auction and made a suggestion about how to
officially end the bidding on future auctions, then disappeared into
the crowd.
After the game, Lorenda, her dad and stepmom gathered with the
other winning bidders. Although Lorenda knew something was up, she
didn't realize she was going to meet Taguchi and get his game-worn
jersey. The group of winning bidders was led onto the field, where
Lorenda finally got to meet So Taguchi and have a couple of pictures
taken with him. He was very pleasant, agreeing to autograph a
baseball Lorenda's dad brought, along with a print of one of the
pictures of Taguchi waving to Lorenda after she called to him during
batting practice when he was with the Phillies playing in St. Louis
against the Cardinals in 2008.
As they stood there on the field, Lorenda's dad thought about his
mother. He thought how she'd approve of this gift for Lorenda, and
his mom would have done the same thing for him. And if it turns out
Taguchi goes to another team farther away or retires from baseball
and returns to his native Japan after this season, Lorenda's dad
realized how thankful he was that they made the five-hour trek to
Des Moines so that she finally got to meet one of her idols.
In addition, the auction was for charity, so the amount of the
winning bid was going to a worthwhile cause.
And speaking of the charity auction, some might be wondering just
how much that winning bid was. Standing on the field that evening,
watching his daughter have her picture taken with Taguchi and seeing
her bright smile and genuine excitement, Lorenda's dad realized that
it is impossible to put a dollar amount on moments like this, for
such times are truly priceless.
[By
LOYD KIRBY] |
