For me to say that I love the Yankees almost as much as I love life might be an understatement. I can honestly say that this organization has literally saved my life for various reasons.
As a kid being the Yanks batboy I had some of those historic players like Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer and Catfish Hunter and of course, Mr. October and many others look out for me when I really needed help.
I saw many of them always extend a helping hand not just to me but so many that had it worst than I did. I got to learn from them the importance of helping thy fellow man.
The one thing that George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin had in common was their love and affection for children.
Through the years I got to learn how important it was to give back in different ways. I learned that giving your heart and soul and time could be more important than giving someone some money.
To see a Thurman or Reggie sit at a hospital with a child that they didn’t even know and sometimes make them forget that they were sick made me feel like they just performed a miracle.
Every few years a player in pinstripes comes along and keeps performing that miracle.
During his first two years Robby Cano was terrific. Derek Jeter was a natural but the guy that was tireless, especially at hospitals was Chin Ming Wang. The big pitcher from Taiwan would call me to see if I needed help with the kids at Hackensack Medical Center.
He was always there unfortunately he had a career-ending injury.
The Yanks lost a great pitcher and the kids of New York lost a friend that they appreciated.
As luck would have it, Brian Cashman made a deal for Gio Urshela an unknown infielder that was supposed to play in Scranton. When the third baseman Miguel Andujar got injured Urshela would get called up and have an all-star type season.
One day I got a call from PS55 Principal Luis Torres. He told me that he desperately needed a player to come and speak to the kids and encourage them. After all that Gio had gone through in his career I thought that he was perfect and he was. The kids took to him instantly. It was love at first site. For the last three years he has never said no when it came to helping the kids. Hospitals, schools, baseball clinics you name it he was there.
Yesterday he was traded to the Minnesota twins. I was devastated. I could only think about the fact that I had lost my go to guy when it came to those Bronx kids . Gio Urshela had been a terrific Yankee on the field and a wonderful representative of the Yankee brand off it. This past year alone he won The Thurman Munson and Cristian Rivera foundation Heroes award for humanitarian service. I recently had told him that we had to stride for the Roberto Clemente and Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards just like the great Nelson Cruz, the man that I consider sport’s greatest humanitarian. Gio totally agreed.
Urshela getting traded broke my heart but my wife Theresa reminded me of something very important. She said that what Gio has learned in the Bronx has made him an even better person than the person that he already was. He is going to a city that really needs a person like him to help guide that town off the field during these trying times.
Theresa is not always right however I think she is one hundred percent on this one.
In closing I want to thank this classy young man for all he has done for the Yankees but more importantly the children of New York… especially the Bronx.
