Bronx, N.Y., July 16, 2010 — Yankee fans flocked to the Stadium Friday night for the first game after the All Star break, yes, but this year there were concerns that no home runs, no defensive picks, no dominating pitched innings would resolve. The Yankee family not only lost two of its most revered citizens in the last week, they did so two days apart. Bob Sheppard, the “voice of God,” left this earthly coil just a few months short of his 100th birthday. And two days later, Yankee owner George Steinbrenner succumbed to a heart attack about a week after his 80th birthday.

You might expect the biggest and most expensive franchise in professional baseball, one that hosts its games on the sport’s biggest stage, to respond to such a double shot of loss with a mega-expression of grief. A show with all the emotional bells and whistles you could imagine. And perhaps before this extended home stand comes to a close, such a show might take place.

But what was needed Friday night was the smallest of gestures, an assurance to the families of those lost and to all the Yankee fans in attendance, and the hosts watching from home, that this group of people has the heart to handle the pain, and to acknowledge it appropriately.

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you home plate at Yankee Stadium Friday night. We present it at a quiet moment, with just one professional in attendance. Yankee fans and friends, we give you Mariano Rivera, one person we are sure can deliver with the game of life on the line. How did the fans feel seeing Mo perform this vital task, and that they had such a classy gent to carry it off?

What a Relief!