When you just can’t get enough Mo

A few weeks ago, someone was kind enough to ask me if I would like a free baseball cap.

Nobody says no to a free baseball cap. So I said sure, and just a few days later this showed up at my house:

Yeah. Now, I probably couldn’t wear this cap, because ... Well, for a couple of reasons. One, gold really isn’t my color. And two, right there on the front it says NEW YORK YANKEES. But you know, gold isn’t the worst thing in the world and maybe nobody would notice that NEW YORK YANKEES. Because they would be blinded by the gold.

Except my cap doesn’t look exactly like that. See where the 42 is? I’m completely down with that, especially considering that Rivera will be the last major leaguer to wear that glorious number.

But my cap doesn’t have a 42. I’m not sure what happened -- and it’s Friday night so I can’t ask anyone -- but on my cap anyway, the 42 has been replaced by this:

... and so I’m definitely out. Can’t don that logo. No way, no how. Fortunately, I have a friend who’s a Yankees fan and happens to wear the right size. So thank you, New Era, and I promise this lovely item will find a lovely home.

I bring all this up because I’ve found this summer’s Rivera-related pomp and circumstance perfectly appropriate, and was sorta thrilled by the sight of this Delta 757, dolled up in what amounts to Mo nose-art. Like a lot of people, I hate the Yankees and probably always will. But like most of those same people, my hatred does not blind me to the occasional Yankee who displays such skill and grace that it’s impossible to root against him.

I just wish he weren’t retiring.