San Francisco Giants @ New York Yankees (3)

The blog entry all about the Mariano Rivera ceremony will appear later in a separate entry once I've had a chance to go through the hundreds of photos that I took.

After all the festivities had concluded and the ground crew had done the final preparation of the field, we were about 45 minutes after the supposed first pitch time! So after the final part of the ceremony in which in a role reversal, Jorge Posada threw out the first pitch to Mariano Rivera, it was time to get down to the serious business of the day which was that the Yankees were desperate for a win to keep pace in the AL wildcard chase.

Today, the crowd said goodbye to another hero as well, as Andy Pettitte went for the Yankees in his final regular season start at Yankee Stadium. The crowd support for him was also tremendous, and he received a long standing ovation when Joe Giradi removed him in the 8th inning, followed by two curtain calls. Of course, Mo may well pitch in the upcoming series against the Rays before the Yankees end the regular season on the road in Houston, but Andy won't pitch in Yankee Stadium again, barring a miraculous run into the play-offs.

I've been following major league baseball since Channel 5 started up in 1997 and started covering ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. That year was Mo's first as the full-time closer for New York. It really does make me feel old to see players retiring who I've seen as rookies or almost-rookies and had a complete career.

The Giants started Yusmeiro Petit, who I saw pitch against the Mets a few days ago. Yet again, a strong performance from a Giants starter, as he only gave up the solo home run in the early innings which, combined with some excellent defence, throwing runners out at the plate and completing a really close inning-ending double play in the 8th, meant that the Giants two runs were enough to secure the victory.

It looks cloudy in the photos, but it was a beautifully sunny afternoon throughout the ceremonies and the game. My seat was in the back row of section 121a, which was in the shade right from the start, which was nice as it stayed cooler there.

So in the end, it was the Giants celebrating on the field, although it was a quick affair and the stadium emptied relatively quickly, save for those waiting around to take some last photos of the special day.

This really has been a fantastic day, and yet a day of lasts. Mariano Rivera's final season, Andy Pettitte's final home start, and the final game of my 20-game road trip.

And then, just like the shopkeeper appearing at the end of each episode of Mr Benn, my phone went ping just before 7.30pm this evening, whilst I was on my way out to dinner, telling me that I had been automatically checked-in for my flight home tomorrow evening. And as for this special series? Well, fortunately, I have the signed photo of #42 and a Yankees programme to remember it by.