Aaron Judge and Juan Soto stopped to sign autographs for hordes of adoring little leaguers.
Giancarlo Stanton gave pointers to a youth baseball player during a pregame bus ride.
Gerrit Cole visited a little leaguer’s bullpen session and gave his stamp of approval.
And Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells raced down a grassy hill on flattened cardboard boxes as dozens of kids cheered them on.
Indeed, the MLB Little League Classic had arrived.
In a scene reminiscent of the Beatles arriving at JFK Airport in February 1964, the Yankees played the role of rock stars Sunday in Williamsport, Pa., before facing the Detroit Tigers at Historic Bowman Field.
It was the Yankees’ first time participating in the Little League Classic, a special regular-season game that takes place in the host city of the Little League World Series every year at the same time as the annual youth baseball tournament.
And they clearly enjoyed themselves.
“When I first walked out through the stands, I got to see the field,” manager Aaron Boone told reporters. “[A little-league] game was going on. I was like, ‘This is pretty awesome.’”
The festivities included Yankees players sharing a bus ride with little leaguers, then sitting in the stands to take in a game before their own.
And you think YOU are excited when you meet your idols⁉️ #LittleLeagueClassic pic.twitter.com/8FoOegO2PL
— Play Ball (@PlayBall) August 18, 2024
Jazz Chisholm Jr., who was traded to the Yankees from the Miami Marlins three weeks ago, captured the unique atmosphere on a personal camcorder.
“This is so dope,” Chisholm declared.
Starstruck kids beamed, smiled, chanted and even screamed in pure delight as they made lifelong memories with Judge, Soto, Cole, Stanton, Volpe, Chisholm, Jose Trevino, Carlos Rodón and others.
“I bet you hit a lot of homers, huh?” Soto told a fellow bus-rider. “You should! You have huge hands like Judge.”
Juan Soto mic’d up at #LittleLeagueClassic! 🤣 pic.twitter.com/IPvFyLqu7M
— MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2024
Sunday marked the seventh edition of the Little League Classic, which debuted in 2017 and has happened every year since, other than 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Williamsport in 2018.
The games do not take place on a little-league field, but rather at Bowman Field, the 2,366-seat home of the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League, which features major-league dimensions.
The Yankees’ presence added another layer of New York flair to this year’s Little League World Series, where a team from Staten Island — South Shore Little League — is among those competing.
Sunday’s game was the series finale of a three-game set between the Yankees and Tigers, who played — and split — the first two matchups at Detroit’s Comerica Park on Friday and Saturday.
A rainy forecast threatened the trip, but the Yankees and Tigers traveled to Williamsport as scheduled for the nationally televised game airing on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.”
“To whom much is given, much is required,” Judge told ESPN kid correspondent Pepper Persley on the bus. “I just try to do my part and give back to the next generation, so hopefully when these little leaguers are in the big leagues here in a couple of years, they’ll be doing the same thing.”