Fearless Cashman to rappel off 22-story building

Brian Cashman received a call late Tuesday morning giving him an out if he wanted it.

"I told him, you can still back out," Stamford Downtown Special Services District president Sandy Goldstein said from her office Tuesday. "He said, 'Sandy, nothing is scarier than general managing the Yankees.' "

And so Cashman will rappel off the 22-story Landmark Building in Stamford, Conn., this weekend as part of Stamford's annual Heights and Lights event that officially kicks off the city's holiday season.

Oh, and the GM will be dressed as an elf, too.

"I've been leaving milk and cookies for Santa for some time now, but this year I wanted to take a more active role in assisting him," Cashman said in a team release. "As an elf, you have to be willing to build toys, wrap presents, prepare reindeer for flight, or rappel off buildings for Santa. I take my role as an elf seriously because there are a lot of children out there counting on him."

Goldstein said Cashman attended last year's event with his family and in a conversation afterward expressed an interest in participating in 2010.

Cashman went through rappel training this past weekend and will be part of a rehearsal Friday. The actual event takes place Sunday at 4:30 p.m. Cashman will be accompanied by Santa Claus on the 350-foot descent.

Goldstein said she and her staff were a bit disbelieving when Cashman announced his intentions last winter.

"We said, 'Oh c'mon, no one in their right mind wants to rappel off a 22-story building,' " she said.

But Cashman told her this summer that he wanted to be involved in Heights and Lights.

"It takes a tremendous amount of inner fortitude to decide to do this," Goldstein said. "It's not for the faint of heart."

Perhaps, as the GM might say, a lot like general managing the Yankees.