I was sitting in some free seats I got from a buddy of mine. Not sure why someone would give away these seats, but I wasn't about to complain. We were in section 113 row 29, on the first base side of the stadium. You can check out the view below:
Yogi and Whitey handed out the rings. Gene Monahan was back in the house and on the field, so was Matsui. Bernie threw out the first pitch (poorly), and The Boss was right where he belongs, in his luxury box behind home plate. Jerry Hairston Jr. even took a red eye from San Diego to be there to receive his ring.It was a great ceremony, highlighted by the return of Gene Monahan and Hideki Matsui. Geno, who is battling cancer, was clearly moved by the reaction of the fans.
"I looked at the players on the top step and all those people and the place felt very warm to me standing there by myself,'' Monahan said after the game.Matsui was greeted with a huge ovation from the 50,000+ in attendance, and then mobbed by his former teammates when he reached the field.
(first two pics from Yahoo! Sport, the third is from Flickr member Amanda Rykoff)It was really a nice moment and it continued continued when Matsui stepped to the plate for the first time in the top of the first inning, when he received another standing ovation from the fans. Matsui was a great Yankees for seven seasons and the fans in the house let him know just how much we appreciate it. Here's what Matsui said about the moment after the game:
"I was very deeply moved by that moment," .... "It's something I did not anticipate at all. It's something I'll remember forever."Beating the Angels 7-5 was just icing on the cake. I won't get into the game too much since jgavriel already summed it up earlier, but, with the exception of David Robertson, it was a pretty impressive win for the Yanks. It was also pretty fitting that all of the Core Four played a role in the win. Andy Pettitte was great throwing six shutout innings, Jeter homered and drove in two, Posada drove in a very important insurance run, and Mo came in at the end to shut the door. All around it was a great day to be in the Bronx.
