It was rescheduled for 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday, previously an off day in the series. Yankees right-hander Chien-Ming Wang and Toronto ace Roy Halladay remained slated to pitch.

"It's obviously a little anticlimactic. You want to get the first one in," Alex Rodriguez said. "Just have to wait."

New York owner George Steinbrenner showed up around noon for the 84th opening day at Yankee Stadium, but history was put on hold by steady rain and a wet forecast that washed away batting practice and the planned festivities.

The tarp was still on the field when the game was called at about 2:30 p.m. after a delay of approximately 85 minutes. Players never got introduced, and Joe Girardi's debut as Yankees manager was postponed.

"I'm cautious about tomorrow, too," New York GM Brian Cashman said. "Tomorrow night is supposed to be dry, tomorrow day is supposed to be similar to what we just had.

"It's obviously not the way you want to start. You'd like to have opening day instead of opening night. But you do what you've got to do. It's still going to be opening day."

Next year, the Bronx Bombers will move into a $1.3 billion new Yankee Stadium, under construction just across 161st Street.

"You see the new stadium, but it still seems like that's years away, even though it's only one," Derek Jeter said. "Just 100 yards away? That's not too far for the ghosts to go."

The Yankees have won 10 consecutive home openers, the best run in franchise history and the longest active streak in the majors, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The last time a Yankee Stadium opener was postponed came in 2003, when New York's game against Minnesota was snowed out. The next day, Hideki Matsui hit a grand slam during his debut in pinstripes.

"There's so many memories here that go beyond baseball," Jeter said.

The irony of the schedule, of course, is that Toronto plays its home games in a dome. If the teams had opened in Canada, weather wouldn't have been an issue.

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