NewYork.Yankees.MLB.com

By Tom Singer / MLB.com

Ron Guidry addresses the adoring crowd Saturday at Yankee Stadium. (Bernie Nunez/AP)

NEW YORK -- He stood on a sun-drenched Yankee Stadium field and, for most of his day, Ron Guidry acted like the life of the party.

He accepted gifts and embraced the former teammates who strode out of the first-base dugout to present them. He smiled broadly for the pictures. When the tractor rolled down the right-field warning track, the gentleman farmer from Lafayette, La., even pumped his arms the way he used to punctuate any one of his 1,778 strikeouts.

Then Reggie Jackson emerged with the framed No. 49 the Yankees were retiring, and Guidry had to dab at one eye.

Then the NY-logo spread came off the bronze plaque bound for Monument Park, and Guidry had to bow his head and wipe at both eyes.

And, finally, Bonnie Guidry could exhale.

"I knew since, oh, September," said Mrs. Gator. "The whole family did. But he didn't know anything about it."

Mrs. Guidry and the kids -- Jamie, Danielle, Brandon -- clearly are as good at holding a secret as Guidry was at holding a one-run lead.

Perhaps they were helped in that 11-month challenge by awareness of what Guidry confessed Saturday, at the end of a 90-minute remembrance and celebration of his career.

"If I had known, I probably would not have shown up today," Guidry said. "It's a great honor, but I'm really not that kind of guy.

"And, if I had known, I know I wouldn't have enjoyed today as much as I did."

The stately Southern gentleman, not a gray strand in his 52-year-old hair, shared his pleasure with a quorum of pals from Yankee teams of a quarter-century ago and a packed house.

The highlight and climax of Ron Guidry Day -- at both Yankee Stadium and, courtesy of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proclamation, New York City at large -- was his No. 49 joining 15 earlier retired uniforms and the attendant unveiling of the plaque.

"I didn't expect any of that," Guidry said. "They can always just say, 'OK, no one will have this number again.' But that monument ... that's not like a jersey.

"I've always been proud of what I did here. But I don't think I did anything to deserve what happened to me today."

A lot of people would disagree. Those who recall a 14-year career concentrated into a nine-year span from 1977-85 that produced 154 of Guidry's total 170 wins. Those aware of Guidry's leading role in consecutive World Series titles in 1977-78.

Those still overcome by goosebumps at the memory of Guidry's magical ride in 1978, a 25-3 Cy Young Award season that was highlighted by 18 Angels strikeouts on June 17 and that culminated in the furious charge back from a late-season, double-digit deficit to the Red Sox.

Just some of the reasons for showering Guidry with gifts and toasting him with words.

"He caught a lot of teams by surprise because of his size," Graig Nettles, the former third baseman, recalled of the 5-foot-11, 165-pound lightweight. "They didn't expect him to throw that hard.

"When it was Ron's turn to pitch, we always knew we were in the game."

That 25-3 season, in which nine shutouts enabled him to fashion a 1.74 ERA for 273 2/3 innings, will always lead off Guidry's legacy. With typical Louisiana Lightning modesty, he shrugged off the enduring accolades for it.

"I don't think it was as much as it's always made out to be. I had a lot of help," he said. "It's a lot harder to lose only three than it is to win 25.

"Those guys always made the plays, got the big hits and pushed for an extra run. It was like a love affair between me and the team. They always gave me just what I needed."

Guidry reigned twice more as a 20-game winner but quickly faded after the last of them, his 22-6 record in 1985. While struggling with various arm injuries the ensuing three seasons, he won only 16 more games before bidding a sudden farewell at the onset of the 1989 season.

That April, choosing retirement over another rehabilitation exile to Triple-A, he breezed into Yankee Stadium for an abrupt retirement announcement and left town.

"I didn't get to say anything," Guidry recalled.

So this is what Ron Guidry Day afforded him Saturday. Formal closure.

"The one thing I've regretted since my retirement is, I never got a chance to say good-bye," he intoned into the microphone on the field, speaking directly to the fans. "I've always tried to give you my best. Thank you for coming out today and sharing this day with me."

At the end of the ceremonies, he had been introduced one more time by Bob Sheppard.

"Now pitching for the Yankees ... No. 49 ... Ron Guidry," Sheppard had said, and the noisy stands fell into silence.

"Twenty-seven years ago," Guidry began, "I walked into this stadium for the first time, and I remember looking out on the field and thinking what a beautiful place this was.

"I had the same feeling when I got here this morning.

"I feel fortunate, not only to have lived my dream of playing baseball, but to have done it with the only team I ever wanted to play for."

Then he posed around his plaque, amid five other Yankees personally welcoming the newest addition to Monument Park's Wall of Fame: Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Berra, Jackson and Don Mattingly.

Later, Guidry again shook his head in wonder. "I don't think I did enough to deserve what happened to me today ... I know about all those plaques."

Indeed, for a franchise with a golden history, it had been another good day at the mint.

Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.