CHAPTER 9
The mansion’s conference room is located on the second floor of the east wing. It has large windows on the exterior wall with views of beautifully trimmed trees and a flowing brook saddled with arched bridges. The rectangular room has a long table with ten chairs on each side and Phineas’ telescoping chair at the head. Today, however, Ito, Rollie, and Phineas are the only attendees. Phineas stands on a platform approximately fifteen feet from the conference table. Behind him is a large screen displaying an image of Babe Ruth. Phineas gestures to the image. “And then there’s Babe Ruth… the greatest of them all.” Phineas clicks a remote and Ruth’s statistics appear. He reads them aloud:
714 home runs
342 batting average
2,873 hits
94-46 pitching record
2.28 ERA
Phineas continues, “Ruth was the greatest in the game, but Ryan will be better.”
He taps his remote and a video plays scratchy footage of the Babe hamming it up for the camera.
“Ruth smoked, drank, partied, ate hot dogs, and was dead at fifty-three. Ryan will not even peak at fifty-three. The Bambino had two factors that created his legend – talent and mystique. Ryan’s talent will come from carefully chosen parents, which will be enhanced by the preparation and training that has already begun. Ryan’s mystique will come from the surprise.”
Rollie cocks an eyebrow.
Phineas frees nervous energy by pacing back and forth across the platform. “Ryan’s training will begin twenty-three weeks after conception. The child will be ‘spoken to’ in the womb, through classical music and the sounds of baseball games… sounds that will continue for months following the birth.” He clicks and reads off the screen:
- Baseball images will surround the nursery through mobiles, posters, sheets, etc.
- Looping baseball videos will play on TVs throughout the house and in the nursery. Ryan will sleep to the sounds of baseball games.
- Ryan will be given baseballs to grip made in proportionate size and weight to hand growth and strength.
- All infant and toddler games will be designed with a specific purpose. There will be, for example, hand-eye coordination activities, such as popping bubbles or switching items from hand to hand.
- Whatever is done with one hand is done with the other. Ryan will be ambidextrous.
- Ryan will live by the polyphasic sleep pattern, or Uberman Cycle, consisting of a hybrid of three hours of sleep and two hours of meditation/rest. Leonardo da Vinci, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Salvador Dali, Buckminster Fuller, and other icons lived by this cycle.
The screen changes.
Ryan’s Basic Life-Sleep Schedule:
12:00 am – 2:00 am (sleep 2 hours)
2:00 am – 6:00 am (awake 4 hours)
6:00 am – 6:30 am (.5 hour of relaxation)
6:30 am – 11:30 am (awake 5 hours)
11:30 am – 1:30 pm (sleep 2 hours)
1:30 pm – 6:30 pm (awake 5 hours)
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm (1 hour of relaxation)
7:30 pm – 12 am (awake 4.5 hours)
Hours of Sleep Per 24: 4
Hours of Rest Per 24: 1.5
Hours of Activity Per 24: 18.5
Eating
- Ryan will eat several organic mini-meals throughout a 24-hour cycle, so there will be no heavy digestion periods.
Yearly Cycle:
Cycle 1: March – October
(8 months of baseball and academics.)
Cycle 2: November
(1 month of meditation, yoga, and academics.)
Cycle 3: December – January
(2 months of martial arts, gymnastics, and academics.)
Cycle 4: February
(1 month of meditation, yoga, and academics.)
- Stretching and Meditating Daily
- During cycles 1 and 3, there are 30-60 mins of stretching and meditation per day.
- During Cycles 2 and 4, there are 3-5 hours of stretching and meditation per day. There is also time for movies/TV during cycles 2 & 4.
- Female Influence
- Ballet/gymnastics teacher
- Piano teacher
- Some educators
Secrecy:
- Everyone who works with Ryan will be paid well and contractually bound to silence.
- Ryan’s biological parents will not be revealed nor will they have any influence or contact for a minimum of twenty-five years. Ryan will not know of this stipulation.
“Academics will be privately taught here by the best educators in the world. Athletic training will also be privately coached here by pros of baseball, martial arts, and gymnastics. Everything we do, every aspect of Ryan’s life, will be done in secret.”
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