Billy Crystal appeared on the Tonight Show last night and sang a tribute to host Jay Leno on his second-to-last episode.  In a true example of history coming full circle, Crystal was Leno’s first Tonight Show guest 17 years ago.

Leno will be back on the air in the fall with a new show that airs during primetime — except in Boston.

Yeah, you read that right.

That Billy Crystal.

Those Yankees.

The New York Yankees have signed Crystal to a one-day minor league contract, and he’ll play in Thursday’s exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He’ll wear the number 60, as the game will take place a day before his 60th birthday.

“I’ve been waiting 50 years for this call,” Crystal said in a statement released by the team. “I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of the Yankees and commissioner Selig. I know this’ll be tougher than the Broadway Softball League, but I’m looking forward to helping the younger players, which by the way is all of them. Oops, I have to go, Scott Boras* is on the phone.”

* I imagine that most of the readers of this blog will, much like me, not understand what’s funny about that. Scott Boras, it turns out, is some hot-spot sports agent that reps a bunch of hot-shot baseball players. Ha ha.