Did you watch the ninth and final inning of the celebrated Yankee Stadium farewell on ESPN? If so, did you notice anything unusual?

Jon Miller was at the mike, except that he wasn't. I don't know whose idea it was -- Miller or his producer -- but he allowed the top of the ninth to proceed almost without comment.

Mariano Rivera was on the mound, of course, and, after identifying the batter, Miller said nothing. Strike one, ball one, strike two, foul ball -- silence. Miller allowed our eyes and the roar of the crowd tell the story. It was fantastic! It was (Red) Barberesque. Each at-bat in the inning resulted in a ground ball, and only when first baseman Cody Ransom caught the ball did Miller say, "One out," "one away," or whatever.

ESPN takes a lot of criticism for the way it presents sports events, but this is one they did right. The entire broadcast had the right tone. The in-game broadcast booth interviews with Whitey Ford-Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson were on target. Miller was the perfect guy to handle this game, and even those legions of Joe Morgan haters had to admit it was pretty cool having a color man on hand who had led off the 1977 All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium with a home run.

Meanwhile...Duke Sims, a career back-up catcher, hit the last home run in Yankee Stadium I. Jose Molina, a career back-up catcher, hit the last home run in Yankee Stadium II. You just can't make this stuff up.