If you know me at all and my love of the Yankees then you know that my all time favorite manager was Billy Martin.
Another favorite would be Joe Girardi and now I really like Aaron Boone.
The one thing that the three have or had in common was thier love of children. Billy was by far the toughest manager in my 46 years around the Yanks. Billy could be loved by his players but I also saw players that feared him. He just didn’t take any crap from anyone with the possible exception of the owner George Steinbrenner, or any kid that would ever approach him around the park. I saw Billy give neighborhood Bronx kids anything from money to all sorts of baseball equipment. I can’t tell you how many little league teams this man sponsored. Billy loved bringing kids on the field and give the kid the best day of their life. The only problem for me was that I would end up baby sitting the kid afterwards.
Years later, Joe Girardi would become the manager and Joe was absolutely terrific when ever I would bring kids on the field. Generally he knew that most of the kids most of the time had some form of disease or disability. He was very sweet in the way that he would interact with the kids. When Girardi was let go the first thing in my mind was the
I hoped that the next manager would be as kind with the kids as Billy and Girardi were.
Aaron Boone has been a dream come true for me. When he talks about the Bronx kids he gets a nice sparkle in his eyes. He becomes very animated and he, just like Billy couldn’t do enough to help kids.
The fact that I’m the Yankee Community Consultant and was born and lived in the Bronx I get a thrill in the way the organization tries to help different Bronx causes. I get a bigger thrill in seeing the players and manager try to make the kids feel special. The one message that Aaron Boone wanted me to send to the kids was the fact that he is dedicating the 2020 season to all the kids of the Bronx. To me that is a total class act by a classy man who just wants what’s best for all kids.