TAMPA – I was at the batting cages at Steinbrenner Field and I was pitching batting practice to my son Ricky who plays for the University of Tampa. Usually we come to the batting cages late at night after he finished practices at his school. But this day because he was preparing for a road trip he decided to hit before his trip.
As I was throwing, I started to get distracted by the sound of another bat hitting a ball. When I looked over I realized that it was Didi Gregorius. I must have thrown probably fifty pitches to my son and then we took a break.
While sitting on a bench,
Didi came by and said hello. At that point I asked him if he could give me a few minutes for my radio show and New York Sports Day to let the fans know how he was feeling. The first question I asked was, how does he feel with the fact he might be the face of the Yankees?
He responded by saying, “On this team we have no faces.”
“We are all one. We really play together and feel that this team can really gel into something special. I asked him, how are you feeling? It looks like you are swinging the bat really well. He said, “Great and I can’t wait to join my teammates in New York.”
I asked Didi, how do you feel about the fact that he has grown in such a way and how the fans have taken him on as a favorite? Didi responded, “Yankee fans are special. They make it a lot of fun for us and it makes us want to play that much harder.”
Didi Gregorius is truly a gentleman. He is a very classy individual, a truly intelligent young man and seems to be very conscious of what he does. It seems to me that he was very proud of representing the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic and since showing up in the Bronx, he has shown that same pride in being a New York Yankee.
I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this very special young man. And I believe we are in for a big treat from this very fine shortstop.
As a fan, I’m very excited to see what these next couple of seasons will look like in the Bronx.
Weekends with Ray on ESPN 1050 Deportes. Saturday and Sunday 12-2pm. Read Ray on Newsmax.
