Heavy Metal's "Big Four" Replaces "Core Four" at Yankee Stadium

In what can only be described as the only time "Enter Sandman" blared through the bowels of Yankee Stadium and fans were not disappointed to see Mariano Rivera come trotting out of the bullpen; four of heavy-metal's most iconic bands took over the House That Jeter Built for a seven-hour headbanger's ball.

The speed-metal giants-- Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and headliners Metallica--  played in front of over 40,000 fans and there wasn't a fist not pumping or head of hair not flailing in the the whole crowd.

In front of a wall of amps, all four bands took to the stage and went loud and fast. A tribute to when music was born from aggression and not romance.

Anthrax-- die-hard Yankees fans-- kicked off the show at 4 p.m. under a blazing sun and it was a reunion and homecoming for the Queens and Bronx band members.  The only non-New Yorker in the band, returning lead-singer Joey Belladonna, reprised his role as a link to the bands finest years in the 80's.

Megadeth was the second act and lead-singer Dave Mustaine-- who just had neck surgery was less than 100 percent and he admitted it to the crowd.  Heed the warning Justin Tuck of the New York Giants.

Slayer lived up to its name and was the most fundamentally true to the genre-- with deafening guitars and beats faster than a Brett Gardner stolen base-- until the the night came to a climax with Metallica.

The most mainstream of the bunch, Metallica, may be the only band which could get cops, firemen, long-haired punks and biker gangs to rock as one.

The top-billed California quartet is the band which fills stadiums and the boys covered everything from the old, "Creeping Death," to the classics, "Master of Puppets."

While the other bands played one-hour sets, Metallica played twice as long and came out blazing with fireworks, videos and stage effects.

In a time when music tries to be controversial but ends up sounding fake, last night's night's self-proclaimed "Big Four" showed why they still draw new fans after thirty years.

The bolts and foundations of Yankee Stadium haven't been rocked that hard since the autumn of 2009.

For the New York Yankees, last night's show will be a tough act to follow but anytime you hear "Enter Sandman" in the Bronx, everything is alright.

Fan Offers Cash Reward To Angels Torii Hunter During Game At Yankee Stadium

Los Angeles Angels rightfielder, Torii Hunter picked up a pair of glasses that fell onto the field at Yankee Stadium during last night's game, and handed them back to the man in the stands who then dangles a ten-dollar bill at the player as a reward.  If it was a bribe for something, it was way too small.

The funny exchange took place during the bottom of the fourth inning of the Yankees/Angels game after Nick Swisher jacked a long fly ball that headed towards the man and what looks like his family (they're all wearing the same type of brand-new Yankees gear).

Hunter catches the ball but also catches a glimpse of the glasses below the right-field stands where the man is hanging over the rail.

Hunter hands the the specs back to the guy, but refuses to take the bill as a reward.

Does this guy know that Hunter is in the fourth year of a five-year, $90 million contract?

Anyway, ten bucks won't even get you a beer and a hot dog in the House That Ruth Built.

If the guy was trying to bribe him to drop the next ball, the Angels won, 6-4.

Yankees Old-Timer's Day Ceremony for the Unceremoniously Dumped

Expect to hear some of the most heartfelt cheers bellowing through the Bronx this Sunday afternoon in a long time.  No, the applause won't be for Derek Jeter's long-awaited milestone hit or even for any of the New York Yankees on the field.  The roar will be for three of the most beloved Yankees ever to don pinstripes--Joe Torre, Bernie Williams and Lou Piniella--who will be making their Yankees Old-Timer's day debuts.  All three will stand in the middle of Yankee Stadium for the first time after being unceremoniously dumped by the team.

All three former-Yankees have witnessed the pomp from the dugout.  Now it is their turn to bow and the gratitude extended to these former-Yankees will be both long overdue and bittersweet.

In a tradition that seems to have been around almost as long as the 65-year old ceremony, the Yankees are welcoming back fan favorites who were sent backing by the team.  In return, they triumphantly return to the Bronx as conquering heroes.  Remember Yogi Berra?

Why do the Yankees continue to perform this sado-masochistic act?



The appearance of Torre, Williams and Piniella should stir up memories of some not-so-good teams, dynasties and the turbulent reign of George Steinbrenner.

All and all, good memories, even though the trio all left the team under strained circumstances.

Individually, the former-Yankees' personalities are as different as the reasons for their walking papers.

Torre, the Brooklyn-born manager who guided the early careers of the Core Four--Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Jeter-- during the team's late-90's dynasty.

In 2007, the classy Torre rejected a one-year, $5 million take-it-or-leave-it contract by the Yankees.  He called the offer "insulting."  He was replaced by current manger Joe Girardi.

The parting wasn't amicable.  Don't even mention Torre's remarks about his time with the team or excerpts from his bitter 2009 book, "The Yankee Years," during this forgive-and forget weekend.

In the book, the 70 year-old Torre referred to A-Rod as "A-Fraud" and publicly aired out his dirty socks by ruminating about his contentious relationship with GM Brain Cashman and president Randy Levine.  Not exactly a Hallmark thank you card.

After a stint as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Torre is now MLB's executive vice-president of baseball operations.

Torre may have buried the hatchet, but if you look closely, part of it is still in Cashman's back.

Sunday's reconciliation tour continues with another of Cashman's castoffs showing love.

Bernie Williams, the quiet, guitar-playing ex-centerfielder is also coming to his first Old-Timer's game.  It still sounds weird saying old-timer and Bernie Williams in the same sentence.

Williams was shamefully excluded from the Core Four equation --it should have been known as the Fab-Five or Jive-Five or a more pertinent name that included the five-time All-Star in that Yankees core group--but not as disgraceful as his banishment from the Yankees.

The clutch Williams played the game just like he exited--with class.  Even after Williams contract wasn't renewed by Cashman in 2007, the fan-favorite and life-long Yankee retired with the gracefulness he covered the middle ground for 16 years in Yankee Stadium. Bernie's #51 is still one of the most worn jerseys.

Finally, Piniella joins the ranks of another incendiary former-Yankee player then manager who was fired--Billy Martin.

Like Martin, Piniella had success with the team on the field and in the dugout.  Unlike Martin, Sweet Lou was not canned five times.

It's been 23 years since Piniella has squeezed into a Yankee uniform after managing stints with the Reds, Mariners, Rays, and Cubs.

Torre has to remember the glaring omission of his name and image from the video tribute on the closing of the original Yankee Stadium in 2008.  That slight had to hurt more than the feeble contract offer but makes his trot into the stadium a cleansing of the soul.

""I know the way it ended the last couple of years in New York was something that both the Yankees and myself didn't know how to say goodbye and it turned out to be something uncomfortable," Torre said.  "Looking back, I never would have traded anything for those 12 years."

Get ready for 50,000 fans and 50 other Yankees old timers to salute the three first timers with a rousing welcome back. The trinity of new kings won't come empty-handed.  They'll come bearing 10 World Series rings.

All three Yankee greats will wear Yankee pinstripes for the first in a long time but, what must seem like eons in Yankees years to each of them.  

Sunday's appearance of Torre, Williams and Piniella beckons back to the time when Steinbrenner ruled the team with passion and an iron hand, not the cookie-cutter corporation it seems to have become. 

Torre, Williams and Piniella will discover, like the exiled Martin, Reggie Jackson and Berra before them, you can go back home.

Call it Yankee love.