Hot Stove Conversation

It is coming on toward dark in a small town.  As they do three or four times a week, four men drift into an old general store after supper.  Three of the men are older than they want to admit and the youngest has seen generations pass and now has grandchildren of his own, although they are still too young to talk with about baseball.  The store has been closed for almost twenty years. 

Mervin bought the store after it closed as a place where he could get away from his wife and her mother, play cards and talk politics, baseball and farming.  He is usually the first to the store and kindles a fire in the old stove that sits on a piece of metal a few feet from the south wall where the stove pipe sticks through the concrete blocks and is insulated with some loose fiberglass batting. 

A wooden rocking chair, one old overstuffed leather chair and two ladder back chairs form a rough semi-circle around the stove.  A big, old coffee pot sits on the flat top of the stove, which Mervin fills with instant coffee every night, to which the men help themselves liberally throughout the evening.

Sid is a widow and lonely and can’t wait for those nights when he sees Mervin’s light on in the store and knows there will be conversation.  Russ retired from the army over forty years ago and really doesn’t follow baseball that closely, but needs the company and conversation as much as the other three. 

Finally there is Bud, the youngest of the gang, the most devoted to baseball and a Yankee fan since before he could remember.  As they gather on this cold evening in early November, the World Series is over, newspapers are filled with trade talks and for these men there is not enough baseball on the television as interests have turned to the NFL playoff races and the start of college basketball season.

Casual conversation wanes after the four have been sitting around the hot stove for about twenty minutes and Bud turns the talk to baseball and the Yankees.

“Well, saw the first Yankee hot stove show on the satellite tonight.  They traded for Nick Swisher.”

“Nick Swisher?  From the White Sox?  What good is he going to do them?”  Mervin keeps up with baseball pretty seriously throughout the year and could probably name the starting lineups for fifteen or so of the better teams in both leagues.

“Well Giambi’s gone obviously, so they need a first baseman,” Russ points out.

“Well, yeah, Giambi’s gone without a doubt.  But why replace him with a .240 hitter?”  Bud is obviously not happy with this trade.  “And they gave up a good young arm in Marquez to get him.”

“Yeah, but he can play the outfield too and surely they are not going to count on him as their everyday first baseman.” 

“You know, what is interesting on the show is that old Kernan, of the New York Post, was sure they would trade Damon.  And crazier than that, none of them even mentioned Melky Cabrera until the end when they got to fan e-mails.  It’s like they aren’t even thinking about him.”  The other three know that Bud has been a Melky Cabrera fan even through his troubles in ’08.

Sid isn’t sure which position Melky played but wants to join in, “What about that kid they had last year, the quick one they brought up from Triple A?”

“Oh, you mean Gardner.  Yeah, Girardi is in love with that kid and Kernan and Tyler Kepner are sure he is going to get a chance to start in centerfield.  Not sure he’ll ever be able to hit enough though.  They said it would be enough if he could hit .250 because of the other things he can do.”

“.250?  A Yankee centerfielder who only hits .250?  When was the last time that was good enough?”

“Well, the talk was if they got Mark Teixeira for first base their offense would be good enough that they could make up for Gardner’s light bat in center.”

“So, they’re still taking about Teixeira, even after they got Swisher?”  Sid doesn’t seem to see the logic in this.

“Oh, no way they’re going to be satisfied with Swisher at first.  They gotta go after Tex.”

“I don’t know.  Did you see the papers this morning?  Cashman is saying no way they are spending the kind of money they put out last year for long term deals for A-Rod, Mo and Posada.  He says if they get Sabathia, Teixeira’s just too expensive.”

“Cashman is out of his mind.  How can you pass on that kid who isn’t 29 yet and will hit you 30 homers and drive in 120 runs every year.”

“Well they gotta stop spending somewhere.  And pitching has to come first.  They must have learned that over the past few years.”  Russ is a believer that a team has to begin and end with pitching.

“But even if they give Sabathia 25 million a year, they are losing so much salary with all the players who are leaving that they gotta try to get a good first baseman.  And they need another catcher.  Posada just won’t be able to catch every day anymore.”  Bud has never been a fan of Posada behind the plate.

“No, Posada will be catching.  They aren’t going to try to make him a first baseman. They’ll leave him back there and he’s alright.”

“It seems like that’s their plan, I’ll have to admit.  But they better have a second idea in mind, ‘cause I don’t think that’s going to work.”

Mervin has something else on his mind.  “Did they say anything about bringing Abreau back?”

Bud:  “Yeah, Kernan and Kepner were absolutely certain that he’s gone.  Don’t think the Yanks have any interest in him anymore.”

“That’s crazy,” Mervin almost shouts.  “Where you gonna find somebody with an arm as good as Abreau’s who is going to score a hundred runs every year and drive in a hundred?”

“Man, I gotta agree with you.  But they seemed sure he was gone, that Damon would be traded if they could get rid of him and that they would keep Matsui out of loyalty through next season and then he would go back to Japan.”

“So, they are going to have an outfield of who?  Gardner in center, who can’t hit.  Nady, what in right?  Then who is going to play left?”  It is obvious Mervin still doesn’t like the idea of Abreau leaving.

Sid has an idea.  “That young kid.  What’s his name, Ajax or something like that.  He could play left.”

“No, they said Jackson isn’t ready. Maybe in two or three years, but they aren’t counting on him in ’09.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jackson, Austin Jackson.  But he wasn’t overly impressive in Double A.”

“So they are going to get worse at first base with this Swisher guy.  And the outfield is up in the air and they may have to end up with Damon in left field if they can’t trade him.  Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yeah, that’s what it looks like.”

“Good lord, if that’s Cashman’s plan he better be ready to give C.C. $50 Million a year and hope he can pitch every other day because they ain’t gonna score many runs.”

The conversation eventually grows as stale as the coffee and when yawns can’t be stifled any longer, Mervin closes the damper on the stove and the four say their goodbye’s and drift off in their separate directions knowing the hot stove will draw them back in a day or two.