Metallica Played "Enter Sandman" to Honor Mariano Rivera at Yankee Stadium

The New York Yankees brought in Metallica to play “Enter Sandman” for Mariano Rivera at Yankee Stadium on a day being dubbed “Exit Sandman.” The legendary closer was once again showered with several gifts, including a custom guitar designed by Kirk Hammett and signed by Willie Mays. But the moment that truly stood out was obviously Mo meeting Metallica. It was kind of fun to see the mild-mannered Rivera — who seems like more of a Charlie Brown theme song kind of guy — laughing it up and hugging it out with a band that has a song called “Creeping Death” and an album named “Kill ‘Em All.”

Mariano Rivera and Metallica, like peanut-butter and ham.

Nonetheless, it was a pretty fantastic move by the Yankees to bring in Metallica as part of the sendoff. My only disappointment was the YES Network failing to show Randy Levine and his horrendous hair doing what I’m guessing was the most unpleasant air guitar of all time.

Here’s a brief clip of the performance. We’ll update with better video once it surfaces:

Some Yankee fans just wanted to see baseball, and expressed as much in a rather unsettling tone. The more you listen to it, the creepier it gets. Kind of like John Sterling:

UPDATE: Wow, this is one hell of a shot, courtesy of MLB PR: