A special day at Tech, courtesy of the New York Yankees

By Nathan Warters

Published: March 18, 2008

BLACKSBURG — The New York Yankees organization acted quickly and without reservation in the aftermath of last April’s Virginia Tech campus shootings. When team owner George Steinbrenner first heard the news of the senseless act, he immediately got team president Randy Levine on the phone and put the wheels in motion for what would eventually turn out to be one of the greatest days the school has ever seen.

The Yankees pledged $1 million last May to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, a generous donation even for one of Major League Baseball’s biggest-spending organizations. It didn’t stop there. It committed to pack up its team during the middle of spring training to play a game against Virginia Tech.

It was a tremendous gesture. Even so, the Yankees couldn’t have known at the time how much their visit would truly impact the Hokies and their fans.

The Yankees stayed true to their promise and visited Tech’s campus Tuesday. They signed autographs, interacted with fans and provided the thrill of a lifetime for the Hokies players, who despite an 11-0 loss in the benefit game at English Field, were practically floating on air afterward.

“It was unbelievable,” said senior pitcher Andrew Wells, who got the start for the Hokies. “I can’t describe the feelings that I had, and I think I speak for most of the team. It was just an opportunity of a lifetime that I probably won’t ever get again.”

The Yankees went above and beyond what could have reasonably been expected with their donations of money and time. They were rewarded for their generosity with a very meaningful experience.

Superstar third baseman Alex Rodriguez, a three-time American League Most Valuable Player, said it was the highlight of his Yankees career.

“People in New York often ask (what’s) the most important game of the year — a playoff game, World Series, whatever it could be. Arguably, this is the most important game I’ve played in my Yankee career because it makes you realize other important things about life and really how fragile life can be,” Rodriguez said. “We’re all very proud to be here.”

The Yankees’ visit was anything but brief. Upon arriving around noon, they visited the shooting victims’ memorial on the Drill Field in front of Burruss Hall. They then made their way to the baseball field, where they took batting practice for an hour, and then they played a seven-inning game in front of 5,311 fans before packing up and leaving.

The trip to the memorial really emphasized the significance of the team’s visit. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he had tears in his eyes as he walked around and read the names of the 32 victims inscribed on the stones.

The fiancée of one of the victims was there wearing a Derek Jeter jersey. She approached Jeter and asked for a picture in front of her fiancée’s memorial stone.

“I told her I’d take the picture if she smiled,” Jeter said. “She said she’d try to smile, and she did.”

The Yankees then suited up and headed to the baseball field, where they delighted a large crowd of fans, many of whom crowded the first base wall to catch a glimpse of their heroes. The fans sang, “Hip hip Jorge,” when catcher Jorge Posada walked by, and chanted Johnny Damon’s name when the Yankees famed center fielder playfully fielded ground balls.

The New York players interacted with Virginia Tech’s players during their batting practice session. The Hokies would occasionally look up for a monster hit, like second baseman Robinson Cano’s moon shot over the left field wall, but mostly they were just transfixed on their Major League role models.

Tech catcher Anthony Sosnoskie, arguably the Hokies’ biggest Yankees fans, recently thought about what he was going to say to Jeter, his favorite player, but he didn’t approach him during batting practice. He was kicking himself for a while before Jeter stepped to the plate in the first inning and tapped his bat against Sosnoskie’s knee guard.

“How ya doin’, buddy,” Jeter said.

“I was like, ‘We’ve got to get (World Series) No. 27 this year. We’ve got to bring it home,’” Sosnoskie said. “He was like, ‘Easy. Easy,’ because I was giving him a hard time. Then he gave me a wink after a pitch I called away, because I know he likes the ball away. He gave me a wink. That was pretty cool.”

The Tech players shook off some early nerves — Wells brushed Damon aside with a high and inside fastball on the very first pitch — and eventually it became like any other game. They almost forgot who was playing for the other team.

“It felt like a pickup sandlot game between a bunch of friends,” said left fielder Jose Cueto, who had one of Tech’s two hits.

Most of the Yankees starters played three innings. When Rodriguez came out, he ran to Tech’s dugout and sat on the bench that lined the top step. He stretched out his legs, his blue ankle socks poking out from the sea of Hokies gathered around him.

He chatted up the Tech players and answered all their questions. Eventually, he started giving away his gear. Those who answered his trivia questions the quickest — one of the questions was, “How many career home runs do I have?” — got a piece of memorabilia. He gave away his batting gloves, his wristband and a bat.

New York designated hitter Jason Giambi waded into the crowd behind the Yankees’ dugout and signed autographs during the last half-inning.

When the final out was made, the Yankees and Hokies players shook each other’s hands and went their separate ways.

For both teams, and the fans, it was a game to remember.

“I think everybody had a great day here,” Damon said. “A lot of these players wanted to come, and everybody was excited about it.

“We knew the tragedies of what happened last April were still going to be fresh in people’s minds forever, and I think we were able to come here today and bring smiles and sign a lot of autographs. We did a lot of great things here today.”