Billy Crystal Strikes Out In His One-Time Yankee Appearance

Billy Crystal waited his whole life for this moment and when it came, he was ready – sort of. The veteran actor-comedian realized a lifelong dream on Thursday, when he got to play in a spring training game with his beloved New York Yankees.

But his debut as DH  – which he joked stands for Designated Hebrew – shows his comic timing may be great, but his ability at the plate needs some work. The comic, who turns 60 on Friday and wore the number on his uniform, struck out when he appeared as the lead-off man in his lone at-bat in Tampa.

But at least he made contact. Pittsburgh’s Paul Maholm grooved a pitch right at the slugger, and he promptly fouled it off. He actually wound up ahead 3-1 in the count, but then whiffed on two successive 88 miles-per-hour fastballs.

Though the contest had just started, it was game over for Crystal, who had signed an unusual one day contract to make his appearance possible. But despite his K, the crowd stood and gave the no-hit wonder a standing ovation. Alex Rodriguez then got the ball from Maholm, and presented it to the birthday boy.

“It was the strangest, greatest moment of my life,” he admits. “I can always say I led off for the New York Yankees. That’s an amazing feeling. I don’t even know how to describe it. It was so intensely good.”

The former Oscar host got to talk baseball with greats like Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson and even had his name etched on the line-up card. “I felt like a baseball player,” he beams. “I really hate to leave.”

About his free-swinging style, Crystal wishes he could have a do-over. “I was mad at myself for swinging at ’em,” he acknowledged.

As for the one that was called strike three when he swung and missed? “It was ball four,” concedes plate umpire Mark Carlson.

But if Crystal was nervous, consider for a moment how Maholm felt. Give up a hit and he’d be forever ridiculed as the guy who let a 60-year-old get to him. Throw too hard and he’d be accused of being a poor sport. “I tried to lay it in there for him,” he reveals. “I definitely didn’t try to blow it by him.”

He calls the experience of facing the star “a little nerve-racking,” a pretty strong reaction for a man whose league includes the likes of Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds.

Crystal was actually required to take a drug test before he was allowed in the contest, noting that officials were only likely to find Maalox. But he tried not to be nervous as game time – and his date with history – approached.

“I’m really relaxed, I really am,” he noted before his major league debut. “That’s until I see the six-foot-two, 230-pound guy who’s going to throw who’s never been to a Seder.”

But while this not-so-mighty Casey eventually struck out, he did realize at least one goal on the field.  “I just want to touch it,” he related. And with his foul ball, he did.

And what of Johnny Damon, who had to sit while Crystal took his hacks and his spot in the line-up? He didn’t mind ceding his at bat to the rookie. “He’s been around longer,” he responds. “He’s got credibility.”

After the excitement, the star took a moment to head up to the luxury boxes for a chat with Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. “I was worried he was going to trade me for Jerry Seinfeld,” he quips.

And there was reason to fear that might be true. After all, Seinfeld is a lot younger – and he had a better year.