'Tears and perfection' as Mariano says goodbye to Yankee Stadium for the last time (VIDEO)

Mariano Rivera's last ever appearance on the mound at Yankee Stadium lived up to the emotional Exit Sandman hype it was built up to be Thursday night.  The beloved New York Yankees closer threw four outs of no hit ball before Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte — the two other last remaining members of the famed Core Four — came out to make a pitching change with two outs in the ninth.

Rivera smiled when he saw manager Joe Girardi summon both Jeter and Pettitte to make the walk over the infield grass and pull the closer from his familiar perch one last time in front of the sold-out crowd. He broke into tears when his longtime teammates hugged him as cheers and chants of MA-RI-AN-O MA-RI-AN-O filled the Bronx stadium.

As Jeter approached Rivera — after Mo's symbolic relief outing was through— he simply said to the 19-year veteran, "Time to go."

As YES announcer Michael Kay put it, "Tears and perfection."

Rivera then slowly walked to the dugout, tipped his cap to the adoring crowd and embraced his former battery-mate Girardi before walking through a gauntlet of hugs and heartfelt well-wishes from other teammates standing along the bench as the ovation continued.

Farewell Sandman.

Plexiglas saves Yankees fans from dangerous shards of broken bat (VIDEO)

Bats break at baseball games all of the time — but few of the incidents are as scary as this video shows.

The fans at Yankee Stadium had to take cover as Dayan Viciedo's bat shatters and flies into the stands during Wednesday night's game between the Yankees and White Sox. Luckily, a Plexiglas barrier separated them from the frighteningly sharp dagger and sword made of wood as the two pieces menacingly twirled into the stands.

The relieved look on the couple — who were in the direct line of fire — says it all.

Whew!

Derek Jeter mask may give you nightmares

An image of Derek Jeter was spotted in the stands at Yankee Stadium Monday night and like some ominous premonition from a J-Horror film —or the Captain's 2013 season —the ghostly face might have some Bronx Bomber fans leaving their night-lights on at bedtime.

The nightmarish mask with the 3-D effect just mysteriously floats through the air. Check out the GIF below.

Make it go away ... please.

Annoying fan videobombs friend's camera time during Soriano introduction

A Yankees fan with a homemade sign welcoming back Alfonso Soriano —after a 10-year leave — had his big moment on the Jumbotron video-bombed by his annoying pal.

There was a nice welcome during the left fielder's intro before his first at-bat wearing pinstripes after his trade back to Yankee Stadium.  Picked out of the crowd by the TV booth was the guy holding the simple sign with the words "Welcome Back Soriano." He got some valuable face time on the big screen until his goofy bud stuck out his tongue and ruined the moment.

Soriano wasn't much better with his new friends on the Yankees roster.  He was 0-for-5 with a run scored and and RBI as the home team got trounced by the Rays, 10-6.

With friends like these.

Jeter and Soriano hug it out at Yankee Stadium

After Friday's trade of Alfonso Soriano back to the Bronx was finalized, who was one of the first Yankees to hug it out with his old teammate? None other than the Captain himself —Derek Jeter.

Soriano will be in the starting lineup Friday night against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

See, you can go home again.

Reunited! The Captain and Soriano hug it out. pic.twitter.com/3DE9STf6v5
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 26, 2013

Alfonso Soriano is welcomed back to the @Yankees by teammate Derek Jeter on @Cisco #BallparkCam. pic.twitter.com/nNKbuXrqYx
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 26, 2013

Mystery man in pink helps Yankees ground crew struggle with tarp during rain storm (VIDEO)

A late call by the umpires of the Royals-Yankees game — to bring out the tarp before a summer rain poured down — turned a routine job of covering the infield into an epic battle between man and Mother Nature at Yankee Stadium Monday night.

A deluge of rain delay interrupted the game in the fourth inning and the comical efforts by the grounds crew to roll out the polyethylene had the soaked crowd jeering the men in shorts.

As the rain accumulated on the tarp, it grew heavier and heavier — until it became almost impossible to roll out. To make matters worse, a gust of wind caused the tarp to balloon upwards.

Even an unidentified volunteer in a pink shirt and khakis had to run out onto the field and help the crew flip over the tarp to dump the rain.

Eventually, the groundskeepers were able to fix the tarp in place over the infield, thanks in part to the valiant efforts of the mystery man.