Gio Urshela and Harrison Bader were two Yankees that were truly respected in the team’s clubhouse not just because of the quality of players that they were but also because of the quality of people that they were off the field.
In Gio Urshela they had a third baseman that played a brand of defense that we had not seen since the great Graig Nettles manned the position forty years earlier. I must add that Gio’s offensive prowess wasn’t too shabby either.
In Harrison, you’re talking about one of the most unselfish players ever to put on a Yankee uniform.
When traded to New York he had a foot injury and was not supposed to be ready to play till the following spring training, however, he worked so hard that he was in the lineup that September and hit five homers in the playoffs. Has he been hurt often… Yes, but that’s because he only knows one way to play, extra hard!
My prediction is that next season he will play injury-free and give whatever team he is with a great season. Like Gio, this guy gives you a gold glove quality defense like no one since Paul Blair helped the Yankees win consecutive championships back in the seventies.
The greatest thing that these two have in common and the reason I love them so much is that while wearing that Yankee uniform they acted more like Superman and made the lives of children from all walks of life feel so special. Kids with cancer or kids without parents were made to feel special and given hope for a better life by these two guys. I will never forget Gio at Hackensack Medical Center reaching out to those kids days before his wedding.
I will never forget Harrison showing up in midtown Manhattan to help raise the money for a young lady with cancer who needed to get to Seattle for a special treatment.
That’s just a small example of their efforts. They don’t like to talk about what they do and I understand however sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due.
I am so grateful to the Cristian Rivera Foundation for honoring these two wonderful individuals. They have both received the Heroes Award for all their efforts and when a great humanitarian like the brilliant actor/producer Chazz Palminteri acknowledges you as a hero and hands you your prize then you know that you have achieved something great. Something that is bigger than what you could ever achieve on a baseball field.