Yankees honor Steinbrenner and Sheppard in walk-off fashion

You could say that now George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard have joined the ghosts of New York Yankees past and are part of the mystique and aura of Yankee faith.

If they truly joined the other ghosts of mystique and aura, it showed tonight.

One of George Steinbrenner's wishes was that the Yankees would never lose to the Tampa Bay Rays, who play in his home town of Tampa, Florida. Steinbrenner always wanted bragging rights for beating the Rays, or then Devil Rays, and would be embarrassed when the Yankees would lose to Tampa. Ironically enough, the Yankees were playing those very same Rays tonight, and if George truly joined the ghosts, he worked some magic tonight.

The Yankees, after having a pregame ceremony for "The Boss" and Sheppard which included a speech from captain Derek Jeter, a placing of flowers at home plate by Mariano Rivera, the revealing of the Yankees' new patches, and an emotional two minute moment of silence, pulled off a walk-off win in dramatic fashion against the division rival Rays thanks to right fielder Nick Swisher.

"We gather here tonight to honor two men who were both shining stars in the Yankee universe," Jeter said from behind home plate. "Both men, Mr. George Steinbrenner and Mr. Bob Sheppard, cared deeply about their responsibilities to this organization and to our fans, and for that, will be forever remembered in baseball history and in our hearts."

And boy, was there a game.

With 2 outs and the score tied 4-4 in the 9th inning, Nick Swisher stepped to the plate, this coming after he had hit a game tying home run in his previous at-bat. With Curtis Granderson on second base and Brett Gardner on first, it seemed as though Swish was the perfect man for the occasion. He proved he was. Swish laced a sharp single into right field, allowing Curtis Granderson to race all the way from second base and score on a close tag at home plate giving the Yankees the 5-4 victory. As customary, Swisher received his pie in the face from A.J. Burnett, a fitting ending to an emotional night. Swisher went 3-5 on the night.

"It was such a somber attitude," said Swisher after the game. "You didn't know what to think. There's so many things you can say about him. You just wanted to go out and win it for him."

"Today was George Steinbrenner's day. He's the reason we have this. I was happy to send him out on this note."

In an even more fitting tribute for Sheppard, Paul Olden, the Yankees' current PA announcer, was silent tonight. There were no batter introductions, no pitching change announcements, and no PA announcements tonight in a tribute to Sheppard who had been the Yankees' voice for over 50 years. At the end of the game, Sheppard's voice was heard saying: "Thank you for coming to the game." The Bleacher Creatures were also silent tonight in tribute to Sheppard.

The Yankees did it tonight on the field, but I know that somewhere up there, The Boss and Mr. Sheppard helped out a little.

Swisher's home run tonight was his 16th of the season, while Jorge Posada (10) and Robinson Cano (17) also homered.

A great game and a great win for the Boss and Sheppard, but it was also a big game as the Yankees defeated their division rival. The Yankees now have a 3 game lead over Tampa in the AL East standings. The Yankees now improve to 57-32.