Friday, July 25, 2008

More Moose

Javier – an old lefty who used to throw a good fastball and a great curve – likes to turn the conversation to pitching. Mike Mussina’s outstanding season is one of his favorite topics these days.

“Moose is pitching the way I would,” Javier likes to say. “We’re both smart, but he’s got all the talent.”

The guys that gather around Juan Carlos’s coffee cart usually roll their eyes, but today they all smiled when he greeted them with:

“Moooooose.”

Javier peeled the lid off his cup and tossed out some questions.

“Moose has been great this year, right?”

Everyone nodded.

“He’s helped put us in the middle of the division race, right?”

They all nodded, again.

“And he gives the best quotes, right?”

Everyone smiled.

Javier pulled out the newspaper.

“A reporter asked him why he went with a changeup to strike out Brendan Harris on Wednesday,” Javier said. “This is what Moose told him: ‘Just because. Jose called for it, and I said, ‘Hey, good idea,’ and shoom.’”

The guys laughed.

Javier continued with another Mussina quote:

“We’ve got a team right now that believes in themselves and believes that we can play with anybody, any time.”

“Yeah,” everyone said.

3 comments:

Donna said...

Mike Mussina is the best interview. He has that sharp, dry sense of humor and he knows so much about pitching. It is always interesting.

Henry said...

Moose has really come up big for us. He is one of the best free-agent signings the Yankees have made in a long time.

JoeyBoy said...

Moose has been: The Man.