 With the wave of call-ups who've been helping the club lately the number of players used by the Yankees this season has climbed To 47 last night featured the latest to make their team debut in Sal Romano He's got some local ties Romano was born on Long Island and grew up a few hours away from Yankee Stadium in Southington, Connecticut Yankees signed the 27-year-old in May after he was designated for assignment and released by his original Organization the Reds for whom Romano appeared in 83 career games earlier today our emeritus Maracovitz caught up with the right-hander Sal is a Yankees fan growing up. What type of a thrill is it for you to wear that uniform? Oh, it was a dream come true There was some I waited, you know 27 years to put that to put that uniform on yesterday It was an unbelievable feeling. I was actually at Yankee Stadium the day before so I got that You know try on my pinstriped jersey and all that like I said, I waited a long time to do that It was a you know a dream come true You know had some family here is it was an unbelievable experience I can't can't one of them one of the greatest days of my life for sure I would imagine there'd be a lot of adrenaline anyway, but Yankees red socks knowing the rivalry does that just add to it for you? Oh, absolutely just thrown right in the fire, but you know, that's you know, I want that type of situation You know, I think I prepared myself for that and just just wanted to go out there and do my job and get the Outside booty need me to get so I was glad I was able to do that and I understand you changed your grip on your slider a little bit You were quoted as saying you feel like you're a little bit of a different picture now. What exactly did you change? How is it more effective now? When I signed here with the Yankees one of the first things that they said was that we have this slider We want to teach you that's able to hopefully get more swings and miss There's a little bit more movement horizontally I was able to you know show that last night a little bit on a few of them Just worked I worked a lot down there with some of the get one some of the guys Down in Scran that that worked with it a little bit and worked with Dustin down there and and Sam So it's really come together the last couple weeks and I just got to be confident with it and throw it But it's just a grip thing and just my thumb placement of it and just and just trusting in throwing it in the games And there was a couple games towards the end there when I was in Scran I just wanted to keep throwing it and keep throwing it and in order to get it better because that's how you get But yeah, that's how you get better and more comfortable with pitches by just keep throwing it Is it difficult at this stage in the game to get comfortable with a pitch like that? Um, it was a little difficult at first the first couple weeks with it I'm not gonna lie almost gave up on it at first But you know I've always been you know brought up to you know not give up on things and you know I was like you know what I'm gonna figure this out and you know It's become a really big pitch for me and I hopefully I can just continue to improve on it You mentioned throwing and working down in Scran And what is the anticipation like you sign with the Yankees wondering if you're going to get the opportunity up here? Yeah, like I told you guys before is this has always been a dream of mine So I was a kid and when the Yankees called, you know It was just one of those things where how could I you know give up an opportunity and to you know Wear this jersey and represent this you know represent this city and everything like that You know growing up a humongous Yankee fan and all the history behind it and just you know Being a phone call away going to triple a and you know pitch and hopefully pitching well And you know to get this opportunity like I have now Like I said before it's just a dream come true favorite Yankee team growing up You know with brochures Bernie Pauli Tino Jeter, you know all the passata just I could name I can name all the Petit you know just all those guys just just growing up coming to the ballpark with my dad all the time into hundreds and hundreds of Yankee games growing up. I was actually at game six in 09 I got to tell Guardi, you know, there's two guys on this roster that were there me and him and I was in the stands So it was just a it was just a really really, you know great experience growing up watching this team and now You know, I'm part of it now and it's time to get to work Now Paul's in our booth tonight as well What would a younger version of you say to Paul O'Neill if you had the opportunity to deliver a message back when he was playing I'm pretty sure you've met you've met my father in a hotel in New York City during Christmas time I wasn't I was sick. I think they went to the Rockettes or something like that And I think they were in the same elevator as you but you know, Paul I was a big huge fan of yours growing up and you know, just hopefully I get the chance to meet you here In a couple days. Thank you so much for the time. Thanks for having me set it back to you Thanks, Meredith. Thanks out. It's kind of cool, too because Della botanist were 68 as well as so does Sal and Dellen was at David Wells perfect game in the bleachers now We only threw 13 pitches last night Perhaps Romano could be an option out of the bullpen tonight now