Before the game there was The Ring Ceremony.

I knew it was coming, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. After all, those 2009 World Series rings came at the direct expense of the Angels. And I was still somewhat in denial about what would have happened if Brian Fuentes hadn’t bone-headedly tried to sneak a batting practice speed fastball by Alex Rodriquez in the 11^th inning of Game Two last October. You Halo fans know exactly what I mean.

But I was at Opening Day at Yankee Stadium as the guest of my old friend and gracious host Feesh, and the Painful Memory portion of the program was simply a small part of a great package deal. And much to my delight, the ceremony that culminated with the distribution of the World Series rings to the players from that team was tasteful and understated. No pyrotechnics, no “We Are The Champions” blaring, no cheesy-ness of any kind. Dare I say it – downright classy.

Interestingly enough, although the ring ceremony started at about 12:30, only a half-hour or so before the first pitch of the Yankees/Angels game, a large percentage of the stands were empty. I thought to myself that if this were any baseball franchise (or even sports franchise) other than the Yankees, they could have charged admission and probably sold out an entirely separate event to hand out rings and raise a pennant, so hungry to celebrate a championship would the fans be.

And now all that was left before Erick Aybar dug in against Andy Pettitte for pitch #1 was the National Anthem. It was all pretty standard ceremonial stuff, but I was taken aback when the public address announcer said “Let’s give a warm Yankee Stadium welcome” to the color guard presenting the flag. The word “warm” jumped out at me as being strangely out of place. Yankee Stadium, like New York City at large, does not conjure up images of “warm”. “Respect”, yes. “Deference…OK”. Even “awe”. But “warm”? Not so much. It was kind of like hearing “Let’s give a warm CIA welcome to…” It’s tough to feel cuddly about a monolithic institution that alternately inspires fear, loathing, envy, and ultimately a grudging admiration earned through decades of achievement. But I shook it off and settled in for the game.

As we watched, Feesh told me a story well worth relating.  A gentleman by the name of Bob Sheppard was the PA announcer and voice of Yankee Stadium from 1951 until 2007 – he’s still with us at 99 years of age, but retired from active duty. At some point in Derek Jeter’s career, presumably at or near the retirement of Mr. Sheppard, he told the Yankees that as long as he had a bat in his hands as a Yankee, he wanted to be introduced at the plate by Bob Sheppard. No problem. Prior to retiring, Sheppard made a recording of himself introducing Jeter, and in lieu of having the current Yankee Stadium PA announcer do the honors, that recording is to be played whenever Jeter comes to bat. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to hear it when it was done on his first at bat, and as for the rest of the game…well, nobody announced Jeter when he came to bat. But I had to admit that the story did have some legs in the “warm” department.

Being the fountain of Yankee knowledge that he is, Feesh pointed out to me a truly unique tradition – which I subsequently enjoyed witnessing. The right-field Bleacher Creatures, working collaboratively in a manner that would make the average Organizational Development consultant swoon, have developed an individual chant for each of the Yankee regulars – for example, Derek Jeter’s is a sing-song DAR-ik-JEET-er. Then, in the bottom of the first inning, the Bleacher Creatures take “Roll Call”, systematically progressing through the names of the Yankee starters. And here’s the thing – each player actually acknowledges the fans when their name is called!

After picking my jaw off my lap, I marveled at two things above and beyond the pure synchronization of effort. First, the fans know well enough not to proceed with the Roll Call when the players are getting ready to go into their pre-pitch defensive position. Simple and obvious as that may sound, few groups of fans could pull that off as an orchestrated call and response without blundering into the actual play of the game. And second – this player/fan relationship ventures beyond warm, threatening to head into downright fuzzy territory. And that brought back to mind the first MGM (Major Goosebump Moment) of this young project.

It occurred at the end of the ring ceremony. After all the rings had seemingly been given out, the emcee paused. “Wait a minute,” he said in mock confusion. “We have one more ring here”. The crowd knew what was coming. Hideki Matsui, the Yankees’ 2009 World Series MVP who had since signed with the Angels as a free agent, was announced, and he emerged from the visitor’s dugout to a truly thunderous ovation. After he accepted his ring and was headed back across the infield, he was engulfed by a tidal wave of ex-teammates who had been lined up along the second and third baselines following receipt of their own rings. It truly appeared to be a spontaneous, impromptu reaction, led by – who else? – captain Derek Jeter. There was obviously genuine affection for the stoic giant, and it was almost Hollywood-esque in the way that the scene unfolded. I glanced at Feesh’s sister Grits, and she had tears in her eyes.

OK, OK I give – now and then Yankee Stadium can do “warm”. But did they have to top it off by pummeling the Angels into submission?