Refocused

Javier woke up this morning still thinking big. He stretched his back and ripped into a day-old bagel before heading down five flights to Walton Avenue.

He cut down East 157th Street and grabbed a newspaper at the bodega on Gerard Avenue. He smiled at the headline – Yankees Not Willing To Give In Just Yet – as he walked along River Avenue and down the stairs to the D train.

He settled into a seat on the last car and started reading:

“I think we’ve gone through the frustrating and disappointing points,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “The focus is on the small things: concentrating on today’s game, trying to pick up a game a week and get to Fenway Park and making that series meaningful. That’s the simple way to look at it.”

Javier nodded and his focus narrowed.

“Is it too much to ask to pick up a game a week or something along those lines?” Cashman asked. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility.”

Javier smiled and kept reading.

“Well, that’s no pressure,” Mike Mussina said. “We pick up a game a week and then we’ve got to sweep them in Boston. Let’s just win on the day we’ve got to play. It’s that simple.”

“Yeah,” Javier said. “We’ve got to keep it simple and focus small so big things will happen. There’s just one game to win tonight and that would be big enough for me.”