Before Sunday’s series finale with the Rangers, New York Yankees‘ legends young and old took the diamond for the 70th Annual Old-Timers’ Day.
Do you ever wonder what your Yankee heroes from seasons past are up to these days? Well, a time-honored tradition conducted by the most traditional team in baseball reminded fans about those heroes with the 70th Old-Timers’ Day festivities at Yankee Stadium this afternoon.This game certainly has had its share of memorable moments in years past and promises to deliver much of the same today.
In 1973, Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle took his buddy and fellow Hall of Famer Whitey Ford deep for what was known as Mantle’s last Yankee Stadium home run.
Even last year’s contest provided us with a memorable moment as four-time World Champion David Cone served up a tremendous blast to the ’09 World Series MVP Hideki Matsui. Matsui, with his Johnny Damon-style rock star locks, was seen bouncing around and almost even giggling as he took the familiar trip around the base paths.
While familiar faces to this event such as Joe Torre, Whitey Ford, and Reggie Jackson were seen around the batting cages today, one face was making his Old-Timers’ Day debut: Jorge Posada.
Look who's here for his OTD debut! pic.twitter.com/XlKCvb9zgo
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 25, 2017
According to MLB’s Brian Hoch, Posada was in contact with Tino Martinez, who apparently was incessantly nagging the World Champion backstop to make his OTD debut. Well, all that nagging paid off as Posada put back on his number 20 and took his rightful place behind the dish for one more time.
Whether you are a fan of the Mantle/Ford days, the Jeter/Posada days or are just now getting into the Yankees, Old-Timers’ Day will certainly not be lacking in star-power nor prestige as we are all reminded just exactly why we are all fans of the greatest team on the planet.