The Lineup

Jason brushed chocolate-donut crumbs from his Robinson Cano T-shirt while waiting for the 2 train this morning.

“I’ve gotta keep it clean,” Jason explained. “A stain would mean buying a new T-shirt and I can’t afford that right now.”

“Is that your only shirt?” someone asked.

“No,” Jason answered, “but it’s the only shirt I wear on Thursdays.”

The puzzled expression launched Jason into an explanation:

“I have a different shirt for each day of the week: Jeter, Posada, Joba, A-Rod, Cano, Damon and Mariano. That’s my lineup and I stick to it.

“I always wear a Jeter shirt on Sunday because he’s the leader,” Jason continued. “Everything around here starts with him.

“Monday is Posada because he has the fire to get the work week going,” Jason went on. “Tuesday is Joba because 100 m.p.h. gas should always follow fire.”

Jason laughed to himself and kept going:

“On Wednesday – the fourth day of the week – I wear an A-Rod shirt because he’s our cleanup hitter. Thursday is Cano because he’s gonna be our best hitter one day.

“Friday is the start of the weekend,” he continued. “That’s Johnny Damon all the way. And Mariano, of course, closes things out on Saturday. Sometimes I even play ‘Enter Sandman’ at the end of the day.”

Jason smiled and wrapped it up:

“Then I do laundry.”