The Voice Of Reason

The voice of reason rides the 2 train before 7:00 a.m. He wears boots, jeans, a sweatshirt, a jacket, a hat, and gloves with no fingers. He sips coffee from a paper cup and reads the news. He speaks English and Spanish and Chinese and Arabic and Farsi and Korean and Urdu and Vietnamese and French.

He’s hard to find and easy to hear, but don’t be late. He surrenders the train to Wall-Street types for the morning rush.

Today, the voice of reason spoke about Alex Rodriguez.

“He didn't deserve this,” the voice said pointing to his newspapers. “It’s just another reason to put Alex on the back pages and make him look like a bad guy.”

The clause that allows Rodriguez to opt out of his contract after the season came up when Brian Cashman spoke to the media yesterday.

“It’s the same thing with Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and all the other guys,” Cashman said. “Alex has a significant contract he’s earned, and we hope he stays.

“We’re only worried about the ‘07 team,” Cashman continued. “He’s got a contract past ‘07, so that’s basically that. There's nothing more to read into it.”

“Exactly,” the voice of reason snapped. “We’ve got a season to play before it’s an issue. This is a very good team and Alex is a big part of it. What happens next year is the last thing I’m worried about.

“This should be the end of it,” the voice reasoned. “Alex’s next back page will be when he hits the game-winner on Opening Day.”

He took a sip of coffee and rolled his eyes back over the morning papers.

“You’ve gotta hand it to ‘em,” the voice said. “They know what will sell newspapers.”