According to his wishes, Crisostomi, 38, will be buried with a blanket bearing the Yankees logo draped over his casket. Floral arrangements designed to resemble a baseball, with the Yankees emblem, and a football, with the Jets logo, will flank the bier.

DePasquale, who said she was wearing one of her brother's jerseys yesterday, that of Yankees slugger Jason Giambi, said he would not have had it any other way.

Crisostomi, who played baseball at Central High School in Providence, continued his love affair with sports long after his playing days had ended.

His other love was rock music. "He died doing something he loved," said DePasquale, who said her brother had been to The Station nightclub "millions of times," attending concerts there at least once a week.

"That's why he went [to the concert] because he was a fan of all rock 'n' roll," said DePasquale, who said Crisostomi took her son and his godson, Cory, to Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest last July. "He lived for rock 'n' roll."

Crisostomi attended the Great White concert with his girlfriend, Gina Russo, who is in critical condition at the Boston Shriners Hospital. The couple had met eight months earlier and Crisostomi immediately fell in love with Russo, the first woman he had met who shared his love of sports.

DePasquale said, "He had finally found love and this had to happen."

CHRISTOPHER GASPER