Rings the thing _ Yankees set to celebrate 27th time, hand out latest addition to crown jewels

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Yankees ready for latest addition to crown jewels

NEW YORK — When crowds last filled the new Yankee Stadium, the old ballpark across 161st Street stood shrouded in a dark screen that resembled a funeral cloak.

Now the old field of dreams mostly has been reduced to rubble. Only the right-field stands remain erect and awaiting demolition, overlooking the ground where the New York Yankees’ first 26 titles were celebrated going back to 1923.

When championship No. 27 is marked before Tuesday’s home opener against the Los Angeles Angels, it will be at the scene of last November’s World Series victory over Philadelphia.

Players noticed what was missing when they arrived from Florida.

“The guys were like, ‘Well, the stadium’s gone,’” Andy Pettitte said. “It’s gone, and it’s not going back up. It was sad when you see that ballpark still sitting over there last year when we took the field here, but you just remember all the great memories we had there and you hoped to start building some memories, and we have already done that.”

There was a sense of anticipation. It was time for the Yankees to do what they exist for: hand out World Series rings.

Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Pettitte will become New York’s equivalent of Olympians — five rings each. Yogi Berra, always the ring leader with 10 of his own, was to hand out the newest addition to the crown jewels with the help of Whitey Ford, a six-time champion himself.

Pettitte won all three postseason clinchers — and the core four became the first players to win five titles with one team since Berra, Mickey Mantle (seven) and Ford (six) in 1962, according to STATS LLC.

While the four vets each will be filling out a five-of-a-kind more glittery than any in Las Vegas, Alex Rodriguez will be fitting his first finger for a ring, the culmination of a notorious but previously unfulfilled big league career that began with Seattle in 1994.

“I think he’ll have that feeling that he’s walking on air,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “I’m really going to enjoy that smile on his face.”

Joba Chamberlain planned to give his ring to his father. Pettitte at first kept his in a safe, then his wife displayed them in the study.

They’re not for everyday use.

“It’s kind of corny. Who wears a World Series ring?” said CC Sabathia, who was trying to persuade his wife to allow their 6-year-old son to skip school to attend the ceremony.

Hideki Matsui, whose six RBIs finished the Phillies in Game 6, will be on hand at the second-year stadium — with the Angels, the team he signed with after the Yankees decided he was too old and too injury prone. Girardi said Matsui will look “funny to us in red.”

“I think people will go crazy,” Sabathia said. “He was a big part of our team, the reason why we won last year.”