The final home opener at Yankee Stadium was rained out today. The preliminary makeup is scheduled for tomorrow night at 7:05 (EST) with the same two starting pitchers slated to go again. There were no player introductions today. Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow but is expected to be out of the area by night.

More from Yahoo Sports (link here)

The beginning of the end will have to wait.

The final opening day at Yankee Stadium was postponed because of rain Monday, pushing back New York’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

It was rescheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday, previously an off day in the series. Yankees right-hander Chien-Ming Wang and Toronto ace Roy Halladay remained slated to pitch.

“It’s obviously a little anticlimactic. You want to get the first one in,” Alex Rodriguez said. “Just have to wait.”

New York owner George Steinbrenner showed up around noon for the 84th opening day at Yankee Stadium, but history was put on hold by steady rain and a wet forecast that washed away batting practice and the planned festivities.

The tarp was still on the field when the game was called at about 2:30 p.m. after a delay of approximately 85 minutes. Players never got introduced, and Joe Girardi’s debut as Yankees manager was postponed.

“I’m cautious about tomorrow, too,” New York GM Brian Cashman said. “Tomorrow night is supposed to be dry, tomorrow day is supposed to be similar to what we just had.

“It’s obviously not the way you want to start. You’d like to have opening day instead of opening night. But you do what you’ve got to do. It’s still going to be opening day.”

Next year, the Bronx Bombers will move into a $1.3 billion new Yankee Stadium, under construction just across 161st Street.

“You see the new stadium, but it still seems like that’s years away, even though it’s only one,” Derek Jeter said. “Just 100 yards away? That’s not too far for the ghosts to go.”

The Yankees have won 10 consecutive home openers, the best run in franchise history and the longest active streak in the majors, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The last time a Yankee Stadium opener was postponed came in 2003, when New York’s game against Minnesota was snowed out. The next day, Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam during his debut in pinstripes.

“There’s so many memories here that go beyond baseball,” Jeter said.

The irony of the schedule, of course, is that Toronto plays its home games in a dome. If the teams had opened in Canada, weather wouldn’t have been an issue.

“It would make sense, you would think,” Jeter said with a chuckle.

New York is now scheduled to play 20 days in a row before its first off day April 21. But the Yankees have trips to Kansas City, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago and Cleveland in April, so bad weather could force a few more postponements.

“Earlier in the year your starters aren’t conditioned to go six, seven innings, so you may have to use your bullpen,” Girardi said. “But we feel we have enough arms down there.”

Girardi is taking over this season from his mentor, Joe Torre, who spent the past 12 years in charge.

Torre guided New York to the playoffs every season from 1996-2007 and won four World Series rings in his first five years. He walked away in the offseason when the club offered him just a one-year contract with a pay cut, then quickly was hired to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Girardi met with reporters Monday morning and said he slept great the previous night.

“This is an awesome day for me,” he said.

In the end, though, it surely wasn’t what he—or the Blue Jays—had in mind.

“Yeah, you’re disappointed,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. “You know opening day is always special and then you’ve got to delay it one more day, but you’re better off that way than playing in lousy conditions.”

The rainout means there still has never been a regular-season game in March at Yankee Stadium, christened by Babe Ruth’s homer before 74,200 fans on opening day in 1923. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium, home of the Mets, from 1974-75 while Yankee Stadium was being remodeled.

“Everyone gets excited. You have butterflies and those kind of things. You want to get the games under way,” Jeter said. “It’s disappointing, but we couldn’t have played today.”

Hideki Matsui was married yesterday in a chapel in New York City. The service and wedding was "hush-hush" as Matsui asked Girardi for the day off on Tuesday. Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, and Matsui had a ongoing bet with the winner becoming married first. (See the NY Post Story here).

Andy Pettitte continues to nurse a sore elbow in Spring Training. The Yankees desperately need Andy to eat innings and starts this coming season especially with Phil Hughes being relatively unimpressive in most outings. One has to wonder if Joba Chamberlain will stay in the bullpen for the season. What is more important, a solid setup man for Mariano Rivera or a 1 of every 5 day starter with an innings limitation?

Jose Canseco's sequel has been leaked with accusations flying...especially toward Yankee's third baseman Alex Rodriguez. SUPPOSEDLY, Alex made passes towards Canseco's ex-wife and "met" a steroid supplier. Once again the accusations seem crazy, but they also seemed crazy in his first book which now seems somewhat true.

Joe Torre will be greatly missed this season in New York. It has yet to be played out how Joe Girardi handles the New York press and deflects any media pressure off his players and onto himself. Many pick the Yankees to finish second again to the Red Sox and out of Wildcard contention. I also feel the Larry Bowa's presence on the field and in the Yankee dugout will be missed. Think of the impact Bowa had on Robinson Cano!

The Yankees and Mets are in secret talks with the city to buy their old ballparks before the wrecking balls hit - so they can plunder them for lucrative memorabilia to peddle to fans, The Post has learned.

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg confirmed the negotiations but would not say how the deals might go down - specifically, whether the city would hope to get a lump sum from the teams or a percentage of the profits of any sale or auction of items.

"At other stadiums, everything from the scoreboards to the dugout urinals have been snatched up by fans, but Yankee Stadium is in a whole other league of collectibles," said Mike Heffner, president of Lelands.com, which has handled several stadium garage sales.

"Each brick could sell for $100 to $300," Heffner said. "I doubt we'd have any trouble selling every seat in the house for as much as $1,000.

"With its huge fan base, Shea Stadium will also fetch a big payday."

Yankee sources and a Mets spokesman separately confirmed the teams' negotiations with the city but refused to give details, citing their ongoing talks.

While the city owns the two stadiums, experts said the teams are in a far better position to bring in bigger bucks from a sell-off because of the emotion factor.

A tiny baggy of infield dirt from Yankee Stadium could fetch $25, experts said.

Each of the 55,000 bright orange seats at Shea could sell for as much as $500 - a drop in the bucket for the same fans willing to pay $12 for a cup of lukewarm beer at the game.

Click here for the whole article from the New York Post

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP)—Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and the rest of the New York Yankees stood on the third-base line, caps over their hearts while they gazed toward the outfield.

As 32 oversized orange balloons were released into the air, the storied team in its famous pinstripes watched right along with Virginia Tech players, fans and family members of victims from last year’s campus massacre.

And when the national anthem was finished and the players headed for their dugouts, it was time to play a game that was less about baseball than it was about healing.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi could feel it when 200 people were waiting as the team bus made its first stop at the memorial to 32 people slain last April, and in the first inning while Girardi was sitting in the stands with football coach Frank Beamer.

“A young lady came up to me and said her brother was one of the children killed, and her mother thanks us for being here,” Girardi said. “That really hit me hard.”

From beginning to end, the visit Yankees owner George Steinbrenner promised moments after seeing the tragedy unfolding on television last April 16 was one to remember.

The Yankees had made a $1 million contribution to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, created to cover grief counseling, memorials and other costs for the victims and their families after Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 people in two campus buildings before committing suicide.

The Yankees presented the donation to school president Charles Steger last May in New York, but said the visit to Blacksburg was a key part of the assistance.

Rodriguez said starting out at the on-campus memorial was powerful.

“There are certain things that happen that are so devastating that time stops,” he said, comparing the shootings to the terrorists attacks in 2001. “For me, this is one of them. This is probably the proudest day I’ve ever (had) to wear a Yankee uniform.”

Hearing that, Hokies coach Pete Hughes said, “knocks you on your heels.”

Girardi looked at the 32 stones at the memorial and thought of the parents.

“To think of the anxious moments of all the parents who had students here and especially the ones who lost loved ones, how difficult that must have been,” he said.

Jeter posed for a picture with a woman in front of the stone that memorialized her fiance. His only request to her was that she smile, which she did.

“It’s part of the reason that we’re here,” Jeter said. “People always ask, well, what can you do? How does this help? I really don’t know. If it just makes people smile or enjoy themselves for the three hours that we’re here, it’s all worthwhile.”

During batting practice, the Yankees wore caps in the Hokies’ orange and maroon, their `NY’ emblem on the front and a `VT’ logo on the side. Those were also the caps worn by Virginia Tech, while the Yankees switched to a Navy blue for the game, still with both emblems.

The pregame ceremony also included presentations to the Yankees of four nameplates engraved in “Hokie stone,” the limestone building material of choice on campus.

As the balloons drifted high above and out of sight, chants of “Let’s go Hokies” broke out. But the cheers were just as loud for the Yankees.

Rodriguez batted in the first with the bases loaded, and hit the first pitch for a sacrifice fly to right. When Hokies starter Andrew Wells got Jason Giambi to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play, the Hokies bench emptied to greet him.

“Seeing how they were pumped to have little moments that will last the rest of their lives, to have the conversations of, `Remember when?’ That was neat,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. “This was fun for them and fun for our guys.

“What we did puts everything else in a little more perspective.”

Rodriguez and Jeter and most of the starters came out in the fourth inning, and A-Rod strolled across the field with two bats and sat with the Hokies in their dugout.

“He was giving our guys trivia questions for his battings gloves and his bat,” Hokies coach Pete Hughes said. “He signed everything they threw at him.”

Jeff Karstens pitched four innings for the Yankees in their 11-0 victory, allowing both Virginia Tech hits and striking out two. Nine Hokies pitchers combined to walk 10 batters and allow 10 hits, but the score meant nothing.

“I think it was just the sort of thing we were looking for,” said Virginia Tech pitcher Rob Waskiewicz, who retired the side in order in the third. “We’ve been through some hard times, and people are starting to feel better, but I think this was a great thing.”

Second baseman Matt Hacker agreed.

“It was everything everybody wanted it to be,” he said.

Associated Press Writer Sue Lindsey contributed to this report.

Hidden by the semi-brawl yesterday between the Yankees and Rays was another nice outing by Mike Mussina. His last two starts have given Yankee fans hope for 2008. His first start of Spring Training was not as promising. Mussina was spotting the ball well yesterday and getting the calls. He was also pitching inside; something he has not done much during his career. The 12-6 curve looked good as well. Let's hope "Moose" continues to roll as the Yankees plan to limit innings for Chamberlain, Kennedy, and Hughes. That means Wang, Pettitte, and Mussina must give the Yankees 185+ innings each.

Melky Cabrera and Shelley Duncan will sit the first three games of the 2008 season:

Cabrera, Duncan suspended 3 games each; Gomes 2 games

NEW YORK (AP)—Yankees center fielder Melky Cabrera and first baseman Shelley Duncan were suspended for three games each for their roles in Wednesday’s spring-training fracas between New York and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tampa outfielder Jonny Gomes was suspended for two games Friday. All three players were fined along with Yankees manager Joe Girardi, third-base coach Bobby Meacham and hitting coach Kevin Long.

The suspensions, unless appealed, will start at the beginning of the regular season.

Bob Watson, baseball’s vice president for discipline, cited Duncan for “violent and reckless actions, which incited the bench-clearing incident,” and penalized Cabrera for “violent and aggressive actions during the incident.” Gomes was suspended for “violent actions, which escalated” the situation.

Benches cleared during the second inning of Wednesday’s game, four days after Girardi complained about Tampa Bay’s aggressive play after a collision at the plate that injured catcher Francisco Cervelli.

Duncan slid into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura with spikes raised after hitting a hard grounder off third baseman Evan Longoria’s glove and trying to advance to second base on the play.

Duncan, thrown out by at least 10 feet, was immediately tossed. Gomes was ejected after racing in from right field and barreling into Duncan as other players poured onto the field. No punches appeared to have been thrown as order was restored.

Well, now it is an issue:

March 12, 2008 -- The Yankees and Rays exploded into a mini-brawl today at Progress Energy Park, with a total of four players and coaches ejected.

It was a follow-up to Saturday's episode, in which Tampa Bay's Elliot Johnson crashed into Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli at the plate, breaking Cervelli's wrist. Afterward, Joe Girardi was upset about the play, and he and Tampa Bay coach Don Zimmer made conflicting comments about whether it was an acceptable play in an exhibition game.

There was a question whether there might be a carryover today, and there was.

In the bottom of the first inning, Yankees pitcher Heath Phillips hit Rays batter Evan Longoria with a pitch, and Phillips was immediately ejected by home plate umpire Chad Fairchild.

In the top of the second, Shelley Duncan attempted to leg out a double, and sure enough, there was a play at second base. Duncan slid high into Akinori Iwamura, cleats up, and was called out. But following the slide, Tampa Bay right fielder Jonny Gomes raced in and shoved Duncan.

That set things off, and there was a huge scrum on the infield with both teams, with Zimmer actually walking onto the field eventually. There appeared to be some pushing and shoving before the teams walked off. As they walked off, someone on Tampa Bay was yelling at the Yankees' side, though it's unclear who that was or who specifically his target was.

Girardi and Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon met with the umpires between the mound and home. Play eventually resumed, but Duncan and Gomes were ejected, along with Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long and third base coach Bobby Meachem.

The next question is whether there will be fines and/or suspensions.

Ironically, before the game Zimmer told The Post, "There's no hard feelings between Joe Girardi and I."