July 3rd: Today was a good day the ball park. Got a chance to meet Michael Imperioli of Goodfellas and The Sopranos fame.

Imperioli was in the dugout before the game as a guest of Jorge Posada. He’s making a TV movie based on the Mitch Albom book “For One More Day” and he plays a former ballplayer. He worked with Posada to make sure he had the character down.

Imperioli was a cool guy, very down to earth. He said he first went to Yankee Stadium in 1969 with his father. It was Mickey Mantle Day. “One of the first memories I have,” he said. “This place is magnetic. It draws you in.”

Jack Curry of the Times and Brian Costello of the Post were there talking to him as well and Jack asked about the last episode of The Sopranos.

Imperioli talked about what he thought David Chase was going for and how much he loved it.

“I liked what the guy in the New Yorker wrote, David whacked the audience with the abruptness of it,” he said. “I thought it was satisfying. He managed to give it closure without tying it up in a bow.”

Imperioli has his son with him, so we let him go after a few questions. I shook his hand and told him how much I liked his work. Imperioli has done a lot of good stuff going back to Jungle Fever and Malcolm X with Spike Lee.

It’s great when you meet somebody you respect and they turn out to be a good guy as well.