The LoHud Yankees Blog

Jay-Z was a part of the Yankees victory parade on Friday. I know this because he walked right past me and I have the blurry cell phone photo to prove it.

Turns out, it’s been quite the past few days for the man formerly known as Shawn Carter.

On Thursday, Jay-Z performed with U2 in Berlin. For those of you scoring at home, Berlin is in Germany and Germany is far, far away.

Maybe the U2 performance was taped another night and only aired Thursday — I’m hardly an expert on Mtv Europe — but Jay-Z was certainly in Germany not too long and still made it to the Yankees parade on Friday. That’s kind of cool.

As for the guy Jay-Z was with in the parade, Alex Rodriguez wore some questionable headgear — guys like him seem to pull it off better than the rest of us — but he seemed genuinely moved by the experience of riding through the Canyon of Heroes.

“I’ve never seen so many people collected in one place,” he said. “It just seemed like they were as hungry as we were. The fans really wanted this. They were a huge factor for us all year. To think that we only loss less than 10 games (at home) after the all-star break, tells you how important they were as one of our main weapons.”

Two of the first Yankees to finish the trip through the Canyon of Heroes and make their way into City Hall this morning were the team’s corner outfielders, Nick Swisher and Johnny Damon. One got there in his first year with the Yankees, the other in potentially his last year.

“First year guy coming over here and to become a part of this tradition and seeing exactly how it is, words can’t describe it,” Swisher said. “I still don’t have any words. Still speechless.”

Damon, of course, couldn’t let the speechless comment go.

“No he’s not,” Damon said. “Swish got to do it in his first year here. It took me my fourth and possibly final year. I am so overjoyed because you don’t know how many times you’re going to get to do this. To be in a ticker-tape parade in New York City, it’s amazing.”

Damon more or less said the ball is in the Yankees court this winter. He acknowledged that he’ll have options and said it comes down to “what kind of option the Yankees want to give me or not give me.”

“Why wouldn’t I want to come back?” Damon said. “We have the best owners in baseball. We have the most revenue. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of the Yankees tradition. I would like to continue mine and I feel like I can come back and do a great job.”

Occasionally one by one, but usually two or three at a time, each of the Yankees finished this morning’s parade then made his way along a small walkway, up a set of stairs and into City Hall.

That’s Robinson Cano and Freddy Guzman walking up, and that’s Derek Jeter climbing the stairs.

Between the walkway and the steps, a lot of the players stopped to talk to a group of eight or nine of us who were alternating between cell phone cameras and digital recorders.

“You feel like you’re the President,” Jeter said. “You wish you could thank every fan individually.”

Some highlights from that bit of real estate leading to the back steps of City Hall:

• Joe Girardi summing up nicely what was going through his head during the parade: “I think of guys like Alex because of all that was written about his struggles at times, and how great he was for us in the postseason. I think about the four guys that have been here. It’s been a long time since they were able to do that and it was like they were little kids all over again. I think about The Boss a lot.”

• Jorge Posada’s response when asked if there was a particular sign that stood out: “I saw a picture of Matsui holding a baby, and the baby’s face was Pedro. That one stuck in my head.” By the way, Jeter initially wouldn’t bite when we asked what signed he liked most, then someone told him that Posada had told us his favorite sign. The word “Hideki” was hardly out of the reporter’s mouth when… “Matsu holding a baby?” Jeter said. “Yeah, that was funny.”

• Johnny Damon’s reaction to how many people were there: “I can’t believe people were trying to get autographs because, if you sign one, you have to sign three million. I had to nip that in the bud right away.”

• Alex Rodriguez’s line about the season ending and the team going home. I think he’s said something like this before, but it’s a nice quote: “I wish we could just continue to show up and play for no reason. No umpires. No scores. Just show up and have fun like a softball league.”

• Two good lines from the Captain: Jeter said the parade sounded, ”almost like the stadium when there are two outs.” He also said this experience easily trumps another famous New York City parade. “We were a part of the Thanksgiving Day parade a couple of years back,” he said. “It’s not even close.”

• Mariano Rivera’s reaction to questions about his sore ribs. Basically, Rivera was a little banged up during the World Series (he said it happened late in the ALCS, Girardi said early in the World Series). Rivera called the pain “manageable,” but almost refused to talk about it because “it doesn’t matter now.” Instead, in typical Rivera fashion, he spoke only of being thankful for the moment. “It was something special,” he said. “I never take it for granted and I always want to have this chance to have this. I thank God for that because one day you won’t be able to do that.”

UPDATE, 8:03 p.m.: Ask and you shall receive (this time at least, because I can provide it). I saw some comment requests for reactions from A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia. I can give you two out of three.

Burnett: “It’s more than I thought it would be. I expected a lot of people, but when you look down every street and all you see is heads in every direction, that’s pretty impressive.”

Teixeira: “We see 50,000 a night, and obviously they’re into it, but when you see millions of New Yorkers, it makes you proud that you play for such a great city.”

Sabathia showed up at pretty much the same time at Teixeira and the group of reporters kind of split. I stayed with Teixeira, but I heard Sabathia said he should have invited LeBron James to show him what a championship parade looks like in New York.

My job today was to delve into the massive crowd in Lower Manhattan and talk to local fans about the parade. Here are a few quick impressions:

1. No city throws a party like New York. I took the train to Grand Central, then the 4-train from there to Fulton St. As I waited for the 4, an MTA officer turned to another and said, “This is like New Year’s, only rowdier.” Sure was. My subway stopped in the middle of the track while underground traffic cleared ahead of us. Annoying, but not abnormal. What really struck me, however, was the crush of people at Fulton St. It took me about 30-40 minutes to get from the subway car to streetlevel. Check out the picture I uploaded to Twitter.

2. Yankee fans were completely, utterly undeterred. This impression was made razor-sharp, time and again, all…day…long. The crowds were insane. They were brutal at times, like when I walked up Church St. shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of others, moving only a couple inches at a time. And we were a block away with no view! … But no matter where I turned, no matter the roadblocks, both real and metaphorical, fans partied on with big smiles on their faces. I was very, very impressed.

3. Being there meant more than anything. From where I stood — a block south of Fulton and less than a block east of the site of the World Trade Center — fans could barely see the floats as they pulled by. Three or four dozen at least climbed on top of a garbage truck and stood tight on its roof, as you can see in this photos of Twitter. Eight or 10 others climbed on the hood, truck and roof of a cop car. Almost none of these bold moves allowed them a look at their heroes, but that didn’t seem to matter. They were just enjoying being part of the celebration.

4. The Canyon of Heroes is no canyon. As we all know, Lower Manhattan streets were made for coach-and-buggies, not trucks and buses. You may be surprised to know that was never more apparent than when a few million people are jammed in there.

5. For twentysomethings, this parade was theirs. I still remember where I was when the Yankees won in 1996 — at a house party with some friends. I was 16 at the time, but I don’t recall the entire series pitch-by-pitch, nor do I remember the parade. So for people a few years younger than me, the run from ’96-’00 is even more clouded in their memory. “This felt like my championship,” a few people told me. Very true, if you don’t remember the others.

— Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone who e-mailed me last night. Sorry I couldn’t reply to you all (there were about a 100 total), but please believe me when I tell you that I read and appreciated every last message.

Thanks to everyone for joining me during the parade live blog – I appreciated all your emails and comments. If you’re looking for some photos from the parade, check out the gallery at LoHud.com.

The Yankees are returning to the Stadium now and Chad and Josh will be there for any news and notes coming from the clean-out.

Let’s see if we can make this just like a game post …

STATE OF THE STRIPES: Pretty darn good, I’d say. The Yankees gathered at the Stadium around 8 a.m. today before heading downtown to begin their trip up the Canyon of Heroes. It will be the 178th ticker-tape parade on Broadway and first since the New York Football Giants did it (on a much, much colder day) after winning the Super Bowl in 2008.

FUNNY GUYS: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte went on David Letterman’s show last night – check it out here if you missed it – and World Series MVP Hideki Matsui made a cameo at the end of the segment, bringing out the World Series trophy.

GOOD COMPANY: These Yankees join an incredible list of world leaders, athletes and celebrities who have been honored with a ticker-tape parade. Check out this list of all who have come before them. It’s pretty impressive.

RANDOM QUESTION OF THE DAY: What’s the best parade you ever walked in? My elementary school used to have a cool Halloween parade where all the kids got dressed up and went around a few blocks of the neighborhood Halloween morning as all the parents lined the streets and cheered for us. It wasn’t exactly the Rose Bowl, but if you were eight years old and wearing a Luke Skywalker costume, it was pretty fun.

IF THERE WERE WALK-TO-THE-PLATE MUSIC IN REAL LIFE, TODAY’S WOULD BE: Beautiful Day by U2.

Stay right here as I’ll have plenty of updates throughout the parade. Chad is at city hall awaiting the Yankees while Josh is out on the parade route. I’ll be right here with you guys.

UPDATE, 10:38 a.m.: Chad checks in with this picture of City Hall – they’re getting ready for the ceremony. Looks pretty good, no?

UPDATE, 10:58 a.m.: Looks like the first float is starting to head up the parade route. Who’s on board? Joe Girardi, of course, along with the Commissioner’s Trophy.

UPDATE, 11 a.m.: I just enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes (for the table) and it’s time to settle in. More than three million expected to line the parade route today.

UPDATE, 11:01 a.m.: Who’s got the best coverage? I’m switching through a bunch of channels and am on YES right now. They just showed Yogi Berra in a car. He looked like he was having a good time.

UPDATE, 11:03 a.m.: That’s assistant GM Jean Afterman right next to Girardi on the lead float, along with Lonn Trost and, of course, the Mayor.

UPDATE, 11:04 a.m.: Hey look – it’s John Sterling, Suzyn Waldman and Sterling’s pinstriped scarf. You know, you can’t predict baseball.

UPDATE, 11:05 a.m.: Wow, no jinx apparently – they started building the floats for the parade when the Yankees were only up 3-1 in the World Series. Big MVP chants for Hideki Matsui who has just jumped on a float.

UPDATE, 11:06 a.m.: Hinske joining Matsui on the float.

UPDATE, 11:09 a.m.: My wife, Jessica, thinks no one looks more “professional” than Matsui. Sounds about right.

UPDATE, 11:11 a.m.: Freddie Sez is on the float with his frying pan. Freddie Sez 27, apparently.

UPDATE, 11:12 a.m.: “I’m so excited to be here,” Joba Chamberlain said before getting on the float. He says he’ll do some fist pumps there. “Thank you New York, we love you so much, hope you’re out there celebrating,” Joba said.

UPDATE, 11:14 a.m.: Michael Kay in his own car. No O’Neill? No Singleton? No Flash Points?

UPDATE, 11:16 a.m.: Chad checks in to tell me that there are a series of rehearsals going on at City Hall right now. Should be an interesting show.

UPDATE, 11:18 a.m.: Hey look, it’s Jay-Z standing next to Alex Rodriguez. Now the folks on NBC are discussing “Empire State of Mind” and giving their opinions on the lyric “I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can.” Bruce Beck just reported that there will be a sequel to the song on Jay-Z’s album which comes out in December. Good to know.

UPDATE, 11:20 a.m.: The Steinbrenner family is on top of a double-decker red bus. Hal leading the way.

UPDATE, 11:21 a.m.: Interesting hat choice by A-Rod. He’s not on a float yet. Reggie Jackson though, is in a car along the route right now.

UPDATE, 11:22 a.m.: Brett Gardner and Sergio Mitre also on the float with Matsui and Hinske. Crowd is going nuts as A-Rod steps up on to a float.

UPDATE, 11:24 a.m.: There’s really nothing wrong with being Jay-Z, is there? Married to Beyonce, basically printing money with everything he does and he’s on a float in the Yankees parade.

UPDATE, 11:26 a.m.: Does Alex look a little bit like Kid Rock with that hat?

UPDATE, 11:27 a.m.: It’s dangerous out there, apparently – Sergio Mitre just got beaned in the head with a roll of toilet paper someone threw from the crowd. Hope it was Charmin’.

UPDATE, 11:30 a.m.: Reggie on A-Rod: “He’s very comfortable in his own skin.” Well, sure. He’s got millions of dollars, he’s dating a gorgeous blond and he’s finally a champion. I’d be comfortable, too.

UPDATE, 11:31 a.m.: Burnett is wearing the rock-and-roll band drummer-type cut-off gloves. No finger tips.

UPDATE, 11:33 a.m.: What a surprise – Phil Coke got fired up and was screaming back at fans.

UPDATE, 11:34 a.m.: For those of you surprised to see Francisco Cervelli on A-Rod’s float, it’s actually fitting – Rodriguez and Cervelli became close, and even when Cervelli was left off the World Series roster he was in uniform and would go out and warm-up with Rodriguez before each game. They took early grounders before batting practice started and Cervelli would play catch with A-Rod just minutes before first pitch each night.

UPDATE, 11:38 a.m.: Dave Robertson is on a float with A.J. Burnett. They’re buddies – Burnett invited Robertson to crash at his house once earlier this season when Robertson was going up and back from the minors to the majors.

UPDATE, 11:42 a.m.: CC Sabathia getting ready to get on his float. “This is what you come here for, to win a championship,” he said. “It just feels good to be able to celebrate it.”

UPDATE, 11:44 a.m.: Looks like each player got a digital camera from MLB – lots of guys using them to take video and pictures of the fans from the floats.

UPDATE, 11:45 a.m.: YES just did a nice retrospective on other ticker-tape parades — the one for John Glenn looked absolutely insane. This is the ninth parade for the Yankees – the first one was to honor the 1960 Yankees.

UPDATE, 11:47 a.m.: Robinson Cano said he was “a little nervous” when the last groundball came his way, but he got the ball over to Mark Teixeira. “I’m going to be in that video forever,” he said.

UPDATE, 11:50 a.m.: No surprise there – Jose Molina on Burnett’s float as well.

UPDATE, 11:53 a.m.: Someone threw a roll of toilet paper up to Burnett. He threw it back.

UPDATE, 11:54 a.m.: That’s a big float – CC and Mark Teixeira on the same float. Lot star power there. Meanwhile, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are coming out to their floats.

UPDATE, 11:56 a.m.: Looks like Jeter has his parents on the float. Minka, too. Posada has his family with him.

UPDATE, 12:01 p.m.: Good job by Chad getting a nice shot of Freddy Sez’s sign:

UPDATE, 12:03 p.m.: Joba is on a float that says “Land of the Free, Home of the Yanks.”

UPDATE, 12:04 p.m.: Andy Pettitte getting up on the float along with his family. Andy doesn’t mess around – he’s not using a digital camera, he’s got a full-on mini-cam strapped to his hand. This one is going into the Pettitte home movie library, apparently.

UPDATE, 12:07 p.m.: Mariano Rivera getting ready to get on the float. He’s got the family with him.

UPDATE, 12:14 p.m.: Gotta love Mariano closing out the parade on the final float. Nice symbolism by the planners.

UPDATE, 12:15 p.m.: Hey, LoHud Yankees Blog friend John Flaherty was on a float and he’s on YES now talking about how great it was to be out there with his family.

UPDATE, 12:19 p.m.: Jersey Boys performing up near City Hall.

UPDATE, 12:22 p.m.: Mariano is waving a Panamanian flag as he goes up the route. He’s got that dapper man-of-the-world look going today. Great scarf.

UPDATE, 12:26 p.m.: Pettitte just had chance at a throwing toilet paper back into the crowd. Looked like he threw a cutter.

UPDATE, 12:27 p.m.: Fox just did a crowd shot of a bunch of a fans and there was a woman jumping around with a sleeping baby on her shoulder. Gotta love Yankees fans.

UPDATE, 12:30 p.m.: Interesting. One fan brought a mock Phillies coffin with him.

UPDATE, 12:37 p.m.: Looks like things are getting going up near City Hall. Supposedly the ceremony will begin around 1 p.m.

UPDATE, 12:51 p.m.: Here are some photos from Chad.

UPDATE, 1:20 p.m.: Final preparations are being made at City Hall for the ceremony. Michael Kay and John Sterling were up by the microphones and it looks like we should get going shortly.

UPDATE, 1:25 p.m.: Mayor Bloomberg just introduced Sterling and Kay.

UPDATE, 1:28 p.m.: Great ovations for Yogi and Reggie.

UPDATE, 1:29 p.m.: “We are the champions” playing as the Yankees come up to the stage, led by Hal Steinbrenner.

UPDATE, 1:30 p.m.: Hughes and Bruney rocking skullies.

UPDATE, 1:31 p.m.: Apparently Melky and A-Rod shop at the same hat store.

UPDATE, 1:31 p.m.: The Captain, Derek Jeter, delivers the Commissioner’s Trophy to the stage.

UPDATE, 1:32 p.m.: Suzyn Waldman at the mike now. She’s talking about The Boss. “He turned this franchise into the best sports franchise in the world,” she said. Then she introduced Hal.

UPDATE, 1:33 p.m.: “It’s great to be back,” Hal said. “Having been nine years, you forget how magical this all is.”

UPDATE, 1:34 p.m.: Crowd is chanting, “28! 28! 28!” right now.

UPDATE, 1:36 p.m.: Joe Girardi at the mike. “The thing I love about this club is I think they took on the pulse of the city of New York,” Girardi said. “This is a club that always had a heart. … I think that’s because of the fans of New York.”

UPDATE, 1:37 p.m.: George Steinbrenner called Girardi today. “The only thing greater than this celebration is doing it two years in a row,” Girardi said The Boss told him. “He asked me to remind everyone that pitchers and catchers report in 96 days – be ready to defend it!” Girardi said.

UPDATE, 1:38 p.m.: Derek Jeter gave a short speech on behalf of the players. “We really forgot about how great it feels,” he said. “This here is for the fans, and especially for the Boss and the entire Steinbrenner family.”

UPDATE, 1:39 p.m.: Bloomberg just said he sent Jimmy Rollins “a brand new crystal ball.” Nice line, Mayor.

UPDATE, 1:40 p.m.: Time for the keys to the city. Hal leads off.

UPDATE, 1:41 p.m.: Big cheer for Cashman – “the architect of the Yankees,” Kay said.

UPDATE, 1:42 p.m.: Not sure about this background music. Kind of makes your head spin, no?

UPDATE, 1:43 p.m.: Chad checks in to say that almost all of the players said their favorite sign on the parade route was the one with Hideki Matsui carrying a baby that had the head of Pedro Martinez on it. Love it.

UPDATE, 1:44 p.m.: Nick Swisher is the first player to get his key. Dave Robertson follows him.

UPDATE, 1:45 p.m.: Posada is the first of the “core four” to get his key.

UPDATE, 1:47 p.m.: Huge cheer for Alex. “From rock bottom to the top of the world,” Kay said.

UPDATE, 1:48 p.m.: Brett Gardner was very gritty in receiving his key.

UPDATE, 1:49 p.m.: Nice to see Wang get his key. Don’t forget, he’s the “Ace in America.”

UPDATE, 1:50 p.m.: This is the most random order I’ve ever seen.

UPDATE, 1:51 p.m.: World Series MVP Hideki Matsui. Followed by hitting coach Kevin Long. Followed by CC Sabathia, who is absolutely massive.

UPDATE, 1:53 p.m.: Andrew Eugene Pettitte to the front of the stage, please. “That’s five!” he called out as he headed back to his seat.

UPDATE, 1:54 p.m.: “He’s the greatest closer in the history of baseball,” Kay said. Mariano takes his key.

UPDATE, 1:55 p.m.: Seriously, what is this music? Jessica tells me she recognizes it from the Six Flags commercial. She says it’s irritating there, too.

UPDATE, 1:56 p.m.: Burnett gets his ring. Doesn’t pie the Mayor. Good job, A.J.

UPDATE, 1:57 p.m.: Cervelli might be the only one wearing a suit. Meanwhile, I’m told the song is a remix of “We Like To Party” by the Venga Boys. OK, then.

UPDATE, 1:59 p.m.: Nice to see Jason Zillo get his ring, as well as traveling secretary Ben Tuliebitz. Two great guys who have always been great to reporters.

UPDATE, 2:01 p.m.: Kay just said that Girardi is going to get a new number next year: 28. Girardi then got his key. And finally, the Captain, Derek Jeter, goes up to receive his key as well.

UPDATE, 2:02 p.m.: Nice moment as Bloomberg calls up Hal and gives him another key for “the biggest Yankee of them all,” George Steinbrenner.

UPDATE, 2:03 p.m.: Jay-Z will finish the show doing “Empire State of Mind.” He’s not Mo, but he’ll do as a closer.

Nearly 500 comments – amazing. Hope you guys enjoyed the live blog. We’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming shortly.

Lots of coverage as The Journal News puts out a World Series special section. Take a look, then hang around as the live blog of the Yankees parade will begin shortly!

The Yankees – and their fans - are ready for a parade, Josh Thomson writes, and the Canyon of Heroes is primed to welcome the World Series champions.

Derek Jeter had yet another quality postseason, even if his numbers weren’t as noticeable as some of his teammates. Chad Jennings has more on Mr. November.

My column looked at Hal Steinbrenner, who is a lot like his dad but does seem to be able to enjoy victory a little bit more – an important difference, I think.

Joe Girardi was a good Samaritan on his way home from the clincher, writes Hoa Nguyen. Girardi is a classy guy.

Hideki Matsui’s World Series MVP performance has made the Japanese community proud. Akiko Matsuda has a nice piece looking at Matsui’s local fans.

Just wanted to let you guys know that I’ll be live-blogging the parade right here – sort of like a game post, but with more confetti – so check here starting at 11 a.m. for all types of commentary, updates and texted-in reports from our man on the scene, Chad Jennings.

Get some sleep tonight. Big day of celebrating for Yankees fans tomorrow.

At one point last night, I could help but laugh when he looked into one of the far corners of the Yankees clubhouse and saw Francisco Cervelli priming a champagne bottle for an attack on an unsuspecting teammate. Six months earlier, Cervelli was a Double-A catcher hitting .190. Last night he was a World Series winning plotting celebration shenanigans with Tony Pena.

Cervelli, Dave Robertson, Alfredo Aceves and Phil Hughes opened the season in the minor leagues. Sergio Mitre opened on the minor league DL, Freddy Guzman opened in the minor league system of another team and Ramiro Pena went into spring training as an extreme long shot to make the big league roster. All of them were in the clubhouse last night having played one role or another along the way. There are others — Edwar Ramirez, Mark Melancon, Jonathan Albaldejo, etc. — who will certainly get rings.

“It’s night and day,” Robertson said. “It’s unbelievable here. It’s amazing to be a part of this organization, and I’m just so glad to be a part of it.”

When Jorge Posada and Jose Molina were hurt during the season, the Yankees needed Cervelli to step in and put that slow Double-A start behind him. When the eighth inning became suspect, they needed Hughes to move into a role he’d never played in his life. When Alex Rodriguez was injured, they needed Pena to skip two levels and become a major league quality utility man right away. Last night’s focus was on Rodriguez and Jeter and Pettitte and the rest — and that’s the way it should have been — but a lot of those guys talked about this being a 25-man team that needed a lot of contributions to make No. 27 possible. 

“I feel like I played a small role,” Hughes said. “Everybody else played a much bigger role than I did. I was happy to contribute in any little way I could.”

I bet you are, at least a good many of you. If so, I’m your man.

I’ll be down in the Canyon of Heroes tomorrow, along with a photographer, and we’re looking for local fans who will be there soaking it all in. So, if you have plans to attend the celebration along with three million of your closest friends and you’d like to talk about it, shoot me an e-mail tonight or in the morning at jthomson@lohud.com.

I’ll respond to as many people as I can and look forward to meeting a few of our loyal readers.

UPDATE: Let me know where you’re from in the e-mail. We’re looking for fans from all over our coverage area.