That Smell

Juan Carlos’s cart smells of ham and eggs and coffee and hope.

“What are the papers saying,” someone asks.

“Matsui’s knee is fine and Clemens is ready to start game three,” someone else says.

“Anything else?”

“Nope.”

“What are the writers saying?”

“Do you need to conjugate a verb or something?” Javier asks.

“No,” someone says. “I was just wondering…”

“I used to wonder the same thing when I was a kid,” Javier admits. “But I’ve learned that writers don’t know much about baseball and the people on radio and television know even less.

“You watch all the games,” Javier continues. “You know what Torre and Jeter and Posada and A-Rod and Mariano are saying.

“You know more about your team than any writer,” Javier goes on. “So what do you think?”

Someone smiles.

“They’re gonna win this thing.”