Like A Script

Going to any baseball game is fun (I mean, how can you go wrong with the combination of friends, sun, beers and baseball?), but some games really do stand out.  Hideki Matsui's retirement ceremony was one such game. Matsui was one of the classiest individuals on the 2009 championship team, so it was fitting that the ceremony the Yankees threw for him was a class act. 

First, a video montage.  Then, a slow trek in a golf cart from center field.  Then the introductions of his family, who flew in from Japan to be there (side note, he is twice as tall as the rest of his family put together!).  A signed jersey given to him, with the whole team coming to pay their congratulations while posing for a picture.  Lastly, throwing out the first pitch.  And throughout it all, the Yankee fans payed homage to a true Yankee by giving him a standing ovation the entire 10 minute ceremony.  Watching him take in the entire stadium on its feet for him, you could tell just how much this meant to Matusi.  It felt great to be part of such a moment and to give to him some of the happiness that he gave to all Yankee fans during his time on the team. 

And you know, there is just something about that Yankee magic.  Because wouldn't you know it, the game just continued to play out in a way that seemed straight of a Hollywood script.  Jeter, the captain, stepping up to the plate for the first time after a long injury, swings at the first pitch and sends the ball over the fence for a home run.  Soriano, in his first series back to the team, nails two homers, including one for the extra inning game winning hit.

Stuff like that only happens in the movies...or for the Yankees.