Waiting Room

Baseball stories sell in New York. They are gobbled up on trains and in parks and along coffee-shop counters. That’s why the city is full of them even when there’s nothing going on.

“They know how to play us,” said Javier as he thumbed through the newspaper. “Just slap a picture on the cover to lure us in and then finish us off with some speculation about this and that.”

Most of this is about Joe Torre and all of that is about Alex Rodriguez.

“It’s not going to calm down until something‘s decided on them,” Javier said. “It’s supposed to get started this week with some meetings and I hope it’s wrapped up quickly so we can start looking ahead.”

What’s next is always the biggest baseball story in town.

“I can’t wait for next year,” said Javier.