Gio Urshela was back in New York for the first time since being traded.
Gio said that he could not believe all the love and attention from the fans. He didn’t realize how much the people cared about him. He never dreamed that they missed him almost as much as he missed them.
Gio still maintains a strong relationship with the Cristian Rivera foundation which is a foundation that deals with a very complicated brain cancer, and the Hackensack Medical Center where he is a sports ambassador for the kids dealing with all pediatric cancers. He was hoping to pay a visit to Public School 55 in the Bronx, which is the school that he adopted four years ago but they don’t open till Monday. He instead will visit with the school’s Principal Luis Torres and find out about the progress of some of the kids that he got close to.
Today if the game doesn’t get rained out he will entertain John Rivera from the Cristian Rivera Foundation and Keenan Thompson the star of Saturday Night Live and a board member of the Cristian Rivera Foundation.
The Twins finish their four-game series with the Yankees on Thursday and Gio still has to visit with the neighborhood kids that play little league around Yankee Stadium that he supports.
In life, they say that everything happens for a reason. Gio spending those three years in New York was definitely for a reason. The average person will never understand how important he was to the city of New York at that time. Especially the Bronx.
I’m so grateful to Diana Munson and the Thurman Munson foundation (AHRC) for understanding the magnitude of Gio Urshela and what he meant. Last year he was the Thurman Munson Humanitarian of the year.
I understand that the people in Minnesota are really appreciating Gio. When he gets back he is getting an award of appreciation from the Boys and Girls Club.
As the Community Advisor to our President Randy Levine I want to thank Gio Urshela as does Randy for all he did for New York while a member of the New York Yankees.
Like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, when it came to the kids, Gio Urshela never said No!
