Video: Metallica Give Retiring New York Yankees Closer Mariano Rivera the Ultimate "Enter Sandman" Send-Off

If you were anywhere near New York City over the weekend, it was almost impossible to avoid the fact that Metallica were very much in town.

They kicked off their big-time Big Apple experience with a show at the Apollo Theater Saturday night, gave retiring New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera a proper — and surprise — sendoff at Yankee Stadium Sunday afternoon and paid a visit to Howard Stern's show on SiriusXM satellite radio earlier today.

Below, you can check out fan-filmed clips of Metallica at Yankee Stadium, playing "Enter Sandman" in Rivera's honor — and performing "One" at the Apollo.

For most of his long career, Rivera, a future Baseball Hall of Famer, has been coming out of the bullpen to close out games to the tune of "Enter Sandman" blasting from the stadium's PA system. It was a nice surprise to have the band there in the flesh.

“The whole thing was special, I wasn’t expecting something like that,” Rivera told ESPN. “A lot of emotions. It was more than what I was thinking.”

At the stadium, the band were clad in one-off New York Yankees-style jerseys with "Metallica" written on the front and "Sandman" on the back.

Why all the Metallica hoopla lately? The band are deep into promotion mode for their new 3D film, Through the Never, which opens in select 3D theaters this Friday, September 27, and expand into additional theaters October 4. Stay tuned for more on that!

Note: This photo (above) is from Metallica's Facebook page. Head there now for more images from their Yankee Stadium performance.

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