Yes, you heard right.  Actor, and long time Yankee fan, Billy Crystal has signed a 1-day minor league contract and will play against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon.

I wasn’t going to give this the time of day to talk about, but I can’t help it.  At soon to be 60-years old, Crystal is not exactly in any shape to do anything but make a fool of himself out there.  Yes, I know there have been celebrities that have gone to spring training camp to promote one thing or the other (see: Garth Brooks), but is this really something the Yankees want to be put through?

I have a hard time believing that new manager Joe Girardi was all for this idea.  Yes, he did say “It’s kind of exciting.  Billy Crystal has done a lot for this organization. He’s always been a big part of it. It’s ownership’s and our way of rewarding him and saying, ‘Thanks for everything that you’ve done.”  If that doesn’t say ‘I’m just saying what they want me to say,’ I don’t know what does. 

Maybe the Yankees will have a little fun with this, yes it is only spring training, but can we leave this to professional baseball players.  Fans don’t come out to see a singer (Brooks) or an actor/comedian (Crystal) go up there and strike out 1 or 2 times and look horrible doing it.  I guess they will get a good laugh out of it though.

For those of you interested, Crystal turns 60 on Friday and will be wearing #60 during the Grapefruit League game tomorrow afternoon.  It will be a huge thrill for a fan like Crystal, I hope he makes the most of the entire day he has with the team.  Trust me when I say this, whoever is pitching for the Pirates, isn’t going to lob him a “eephus” ball for him to hit, they’re going to try and make him look very foolish, they may do just that.

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