George Steinbrenner is expected to be at the new Yankee Stadium for the season’s home opener on April 16, a person with knowledge of the situation told Newsday on Thursday.

Steinbrenner, 78, and considered in frail health, has not been seen in New York since he attended last summer’s All-Star game at the old Yankee Stadium.

“I spoke with him and he said he is going to be there,” the person said. “I doubt he will be at the welcome home dinner. But he said he is coming to the opener.”

The person said he recently sat with Steinbrenner at two exhibition games in Tampa and found him “very enthusiastic, fully engaged in the game, his players, his manager. To me, he was really terrific.”

Steinbrenner is essentially confined to a wheelchair. “He can’t walk, he has two football knees,” the person said. “He can barely stand.”

Steinbrenner, who made a tearful farewell to the old stadium while riding with his daughter in a golf cart last July, is not expected to make a public appearance at the game. “I don’t think he’s willing to pose in a wheelchair,” the person said.


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