MLB

‘Adversity’ Yanks face is put in context

WEST POINT — Tomorrow, you’ll launch your 2013 Yankees memory book with the sort of images that made you love the game in the first place. Home runs. Diving catches. Nasty cut fastballs.

(OK, so maybe not many home runs for these Yankees.)

Yesterday, though, in their final public appearance before the regular season begins, the Yankees offered us some different images: Mariano Rivera snapping photos of Battle Monument. Brian Cashman posing with a group of camouflage-covered, rifle-bearing cadets. Joba Chamberlain relaxing with a different bunch of cadets in the Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field right field bleachers … during the game.

If this campaign is going to be as hellacious as many of us anticipate, at least their last exhibition game offered them some context.

“Our adversity is miniscule [compared to] when they go through adversity,” Joe Girardi said, before the Yankees defeated Army, 10-5. “Their adversity can be much more costly than what ours is. When you go through a day like today, it really makes you appreciate our country. It makes you appreciate what the military does for you. But it also keeps life in perspective.”

I know what you’re thinking: Please, not the old “perspective” crap. Why can’t we just always have the right perspective so we don’t need reminders?

Well, because we’re human and we’re fallible, and we get caught up in our own nonsense. That’s why it can be beneficial to visit other people’s worlds, this world in particular. Besides, note that Girardi — whose father was an airplane mechanic in the Korean War — said this “keeps,” not “puts,” life in perspective. It’s a sound check.

After a police escort up the Palisades Interstate Parkway to the base, the Yankees’ contingent — featuring all of their active players, the injured Mark Teixeira, the traveling staff, managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, general partner Jennifer Steinbrenner Swindal and a few other front-office big shots — started their tour at the Kimsey Athletic Center. “The facilities here are unbelievable,” Teixeira said. “Their weight room, their football practice facility, their Hall of Fame, you’d expect that to be at an LSU or an Alabama.”

From there, they hit the Foley Athletic Center and the Cadet Chapel, home of the largest church organ in the world. Battle Monument, erected in 1897 to honor soldiers who died in the Civil War, is located at Trophy Point, which overlooks the Hudson River.

The last stop on the tour, the Mess Hall in Washington Hall, seemed to pack the biggest wallop for the visitors. This is where the cadets eat their meals, and the Yankees party sat with and interacted with the young adults for about a half-hour.

“They were talking to me, asking me what it’s like being in the big leagues. Normal stuff. ‘Who’s the toughest hitter you faced?’ ” Andy Pettitte said. “I was trying to ask them where they’re from, stuff like that. It’s cool. This is a neat deal.”

During lunch, Rivera met one cadet who is training to defuse bombs. Prior to that, on the steps outside Washington Hall, Rivera met a senior cadet named Mario Cortizo, who gave a gift — an ornate mug — to his fellow Panama native.

“I was proud of him, knowing he comes from Panama,” Rivera said. “I bet he didn’t have that much money to be here, but between the embassies, he got in. That’s a blessing. I got invited [to the graduation], too. I might be here.”

That’ll be tough. The Yankees are scheduled to play at Tampa Bay on May 25, the date of the graduation ceremony. Maybe Rivera can just buy him a graduation present.

The game itself represented a light workout for the Yankees, as minor league-bound Adam Warren started on the mound and the regular position players picked up two or three at-bats. At 5 o’clock, play stopped so the American flag could be lowered. At game’s end, the two teams shook hands on the field.

Teixeira, still largely in “rest” mode with his right wrist injury, was among the many Yankees who spent some time in the home team’s dugout.

“I saw how much fun it was at lunch, and there was probably a lot more time I could’ve spent with those guys,” said Teixeira, whose father served in the Navy. “It was one of those out-of-the-box type of things. It was a great experience.”

Cashman, who arranged for this trip — the Yankees’ first visit here since 1976 and 22nd overall — hopes that all the Yankees will take away such positive energy.

“This is our day of team-building and bonding and learning how the military goes about preparing their players for a life of service,” Cashman said. “Our guys are getting a lot out of it. A lot of perspective. A lot of history. A lot of appreciation.”

A lot of wins? It’s looking grim. Standing on this campus, though, good luck getting worked up over that topic.