Wearing a dark blue suit and a power red tie, the Yankee Clipper lobbed the first baseball of the season toward home plate. Joe DiMaggio's high-arching pitch sent fans into a thunderous cheer.
But a round of booing reverberated through Yankee Stadium when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a right-hander, and Gov. George Pataki, a lefty, jogged out to the mound to simultaneously pitch their ceremonial balls.
"It's opening day -- an American cultural experience," said G. Hansbury, a poet and college instructor who ventured up from the East Village. Much to the relief of her students, Hansbury canceled her creative writing class Wednesday so she could experience opening day for the first time.
"It's hot dogs and big, fat drunks. It's great," said Hansbury, 24. "Then Pataki and Giuliani had to come out and ruin it."
Newcomers and diehard fans alike may forever view the politics and business of baseball with some skepticism. But for the most part, the opening day crowd of 50,245 benched those feelings, paid the highest average ticket price in baseball, $15.01, and lapped up the 8-6 victory over the Texas Rangers.
Decked out in a Yankee cap and jacket trimmed with team buttons and pins, James McMahon scanned the field with a bulky pair of black binoculars.
"The game is still the same," commented McMahon, 61. "All of us have our memories. One season, I came to all 77 games."
Born in the borough, McMahon lived on 162nd Street -- mere blocks from the stadium -- until age 9. For 52 seasons, he's attended opening day there, including last year, when the season ended in August because of the players strike.
While McMahon reminisced about seeing Joe DiMaggio actually play, a smell not often associated with baseball's wholesome image wafted through the air. A security guard yelled at a fan in McMahon's row.
"Excuse me sir! If I tell you not to smoke, why are you now smoking a joint? This is your second warning!"
McMahon smiled a smile of acceptance and said that while times have changed, the game itself remains pure.
Larry Hope, 38, still views Yankee opening day with the eyes of his youth. He remembers that the bright hues of the field, the lights and the billboards startled him after having watched games on a black-and-white television set.
"I still get that feeling," said Hope, as he absorbed the game with some of his mortgage company employees. "That's why I had to make it a national holiday for my company. It's a ritual. Actually, if you don't partake, I might dock your pay."
Hope worked a full day, from 5 a.m. until noon, before the 1:30 game so he wouldn't feel guilty.
But some Yankee fans might feel guilty about their 1995 Opening Day antics -- if they can remember them. At the top of the seventh inning, a guy in a white tank top burst from left field in a drunken gallop. He stirred up some dust sliding into second base. A security guard then slid into the man's head. The crowd applauded.
Cheers periodically erupted for other fan-initiated sideshows. In one section, fans went wild as a man, bigger than Babe Ruth, faced the crowds and chugged a beer. In another section, a male fan took off his shirt and strapped on the pink bra of his female companion.
In the box seat section 68, near home plate, blood poured from a man's lip after a fight. As security guards escorted him away, another fan nonchalantly said, "It doesn't get any better than this." He then side-stepped the drops of blood.