The vice-president made a surprise visit to Steinbrenner Field yesterday, spending about 30 minutes at the ballpark and hanging out on the field with Joe Girardi, Joba Chamberlain, and others before the Yankees’ game against Toronto. (Alex Rodriguez also requested some time with Biden, presumably to discuss why the paparazzi following Rodriguez have no apparent interest in photographing the vice-president.) In any case, it sounds like a grand time: The AP account notes — and the photo here proves — that at one point, Biden put his arm around a laughing Mariano Rivera. Actually, perhaps we should clarify: It sounds like a grand time for the Yankees. Less so for the Blue Jays: Since Biden’s route to the field went through the visitors’ clubhouse, some early-arriving Toronto players had trouble entering the park, while the rest of their teammates weren’t even allowed off the team bus, which instead circled until the players were finally allowed in around the time Biden departed. The long-term impact on Canadian-American relations is at this point still unknown. [Toronto Star via Big League Stew/Yahoo]