Wearing The Crown

The Crown Diner smells like years of bleach and perfect bacon.

It’s the best place to start in the Bronx. Belly to the counter – coffee, eggs over easy, home fries, and toast – getting ready to earn your way through another day.

A few miles north, Bernie Williams – a Crown favorite – is facing the same thing.

There is plenty of news coming from Tampa, but the biggest thing around here is whether Williams will try to earn a job with the Yankees.

It’s been a long time since he faced this uncertainty, but the guys at the counter have faith.

“Bernie’s tough,” Javier says. “He’s a happy guy and always smiling, but on the field you can see the player come out.”

“He did it when he was a kid,” Jerry adds. “I think he wants it badly enough so I’m sure he can do it again.”

Carman believes, too.

“Bernie will be across the street in 45 days, just like the rest of us.”

There is honor in earning your way through each day. It’s a satisfyingly-sore feeling that Williams can find in Tampa and bring to the Bronx.

If he wants to start with breakfast at the Crown, the guys at the counter will buy.