| Yankees Help In Healing Process |
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| David Grimes | |
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The tragic events of April 16, 2007 will be a part of our memories forever. March 18, 2008 will be another day in which we will never forget, as the New York Yankees visited the Virginia Tech campus on Tuesday, viewing the memorial dedicated to the campus shooting victims and taking on the Hokies in an exhibition baseball game.
Last May, the Yankees made a $1 million contribution to the Virginia Tech Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. In addition, they made a promised that they would play an exhibition game against the Hokies either in Blacksburg or a near-by venue.
Yesterday, the Bronx Bombers fulfilled that promise, as they arrived on campus for the exhibition game, which was 11 months in the planning.
The Yankees first stop was at the Virginia Tech Memorial, which is dedicated to the campus shooting victims. The team, dressed in street clothes viewed all 32 stone memorials.
Virginia Tech President Charles Steger was on hand and briefly addressed the players at the memorial.
During a mid-day press conference, Alex Rodrguezi said, “This means a lot and it’s an honor to be here. It makes you remember how important life is and how fragile it is.”
"People always ask, 'Well, what can you do? How does this help?' I really don't know," Derek Jeter said. "If it just makes people smile or enjoy themselves for the three hours that we're here, it's all worthwhile."
During an afternoon batting session, the players took time out from their on-field warm-ups to talk with the 3,000 plus fans that filed into English Field, as well as sign autographs.
During the pre-game ceremonies, 32 oversized orange balloons were released into the air and it also included presentations to the Yankees of four nameplates engraved in "Hokie stone," the limestone building material of choice on campus.
Then came the first pitch. It wasn’t about winning or losing or even about playing the American pastime, it was all about helping in the healing process. By the way, the Hokies lost 11-0.
After the game, Yankee manager Joe Giradi said, “In the first inning, I was sitting in the stands with head coach Frank Beamer and a young lady came up to me and said her brother was one of the children killed, and her mother thanks us for being here. That really hit me hard."
Click here to see more pictures from Tuesday's New York Yankees/Virginia Tech event.
Photos by David Grimes
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