The interview with the gentleman in the black Mickey Mouse T-Shirt had ended, a mid-April interview that, of course, was conducted via Zoom. Before saying goodbye, I had always planned to ask him one final question.

“What do you remember,” I said, “about July 4, 1995?”

Within seconds, the man began to answer the question. He spoke deliberately and descriptively, flashing back 25 years ago as if he was flashing back a mere 25 days.

“Well, what I remember about that date is this,” the man said. “We were playing in Chicago and it was a day game. I pitched that day. And I did pretty good. I pitched eight innings and I had 11 or 12 punch outs.”

The man in the black T-shirt was not your average Mickey Mouse fan. The man was Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer of all time, and we were talking about the memorable day when he first showed his dominance as a Major League pitcher. Yes, Rivera was still a starter in 1995, and he smothered the White Sox that day, except for the two hits he allowed to another future Hall of Famer named Frank Thomas.

Once Rivera spoke vividly about the game, I explained how the YES Network wanted him to guide us on an inning by inning recollection of the day. Rivera quickly agreed to another interview in exactly one week and said he was eager to see the footage of his eight scoreless innings and his 11 strikeouts. And, because of many clever and resourceful folks at YES, the results of that conversation with Rivera will air on Sunday at 7 p.m. in a reimagining of a Yankee Classic.

How excited was Rivera to be a part of this special? Not only did Mariano double check to confirm the time of the Zoom interview, he also wore a white Yankees cap for it. I don’t think the Hall of Fame pitcher walks around the house with a Yankees cap on, but there was nothing Mickey Mouse about Mariano’s wardrobe for our second interview. It was a day in which Rivera answered dozens of questions about his preparation, his mindset, his expectations, his present and his soon-to-be glossy future.

“It was exciting because, I mean, I remember it was the Fourth of July and the stadium was packed with children and kids and people shouting,” Rivera said. “They don’t know much about me, but it was a great a game. A wonderful game.”

Eventually, the White Sox learned a lot about Rivera and his exploding fastball, which he used to collect 10 of his 11 strikeouts. In addition to Rivera, our special includes interviews with manager Buck Showalter, center fielder Bernie Williams, Robin Ventura, who played third base for the White Sox, and Michael Kay, who handled the radio broadcast with John Sterling.

When I interviewed Showalter, his insight was a reminder of how he sees details that others simply don’t see. Showalter called Rivera’s start “an ambush game.” It was a sunny day game that was played after a night game and Showalter didn’t think the White Sox would be prepared for Rivera’s fastball. And, of course, Showalter was right.

Maybe the White Sox weren’t prepared because they had received a flawed scouting report on a pitcher who had made only four appearances in the Majors. Ventura laughed as he recounted how the White Sox were told that Rivera threw a solid changeup and that his fastball was in the mid-80s. Instead, Rivera’s fastball hovered around 94 miles per hour, he threw a few change ups and he didn’t have a reliable breaking pitch.

While Rivera had a special team behind him that day, a team that would win 26 of its last 33 games to qualify for the postseason, it took a special team at YES to make sure this show, which is stuffed with over 50 sound bites, would could come to fruition.

From the support and advice of John J. Filippelli to the guidance of Jared Boshnack to the crafty producing of Emily Colter to the editing of Frank Murphy, this show is brimming with behind-the-scenes baseball nuggets. If you love baseball and you miss baseball, tune to YES at 7 p.m. on Sunday. And, if you want to emulate Rivera, you can even wear a Yankees cap as you’re watching it.