Monday, September 8, 2008

Clearing Space

Javier needed some space this morning. He skipped coffee at Juan Carlos’s cart and walked down Walton Avenue past 149th Street – where he usually gets the 2 train – and then cut across the 145th Street Bridge into Harlem.

“It was a nice walk,” he explained. “I cleared my head and started to wrap my mind around some things.”

He hopped on the 3 train at 148th Street with a whole new attitude.

“I can’t let other people influence how I feel about my baseball team,” Javier explained. “Writers and broadcasters all have their opinions and that’s fine, but I need to use that to decide how I feel.

“Baseball can’t always be some singular quest to make the playoffs and win the World Series,” he continued. “It’s been that way for a long time around here so you get caught up in it, but watching my team play good baseball is what it’s really about. That’s all anyone can ever ask for and that’s all I want over these last three weeks.”

Javier looked up and down the packed subway car.

“It feels good to clear some space,” he said. “This is between me and my team.”

4 comments:

Ron W. said...

That is a good way to look at things.

JoeyBoy said...

Three weeks of good baseball would be just fine by me.

Doreen said...

Javier's got it right!

Donna said...

These guys in the Bronx do get it right.