TY HENSLEY: MAKING AN IMPORTANT CAUSE REALITY

Bleeding Yankee Blue started out as a rant site that developed into something more.  It was an accident but the success is all because of the our audience who click and share over coffee or whenever there is a Yankee development.   We’ve become friendly with our audience and have communicated with the likes of Scott Brosius,Francisco Cervelli, the Posadas as well as up-and-comers Dante Bichette Jr and my son’s new found hero, Ty Hensley.  And, quick shout out by the way, we can’t forget their moms, Marci Hensley and Mariana Bichette or the great reporting by Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record and Jack Curry of YES. We're a BYB/Yankee family... whether they know it or not... and we appreciate them all.   We’ve created a product different than the others and we appreciate the feedback, the praise and the criticism… it only makes up want to improve.

Enter a kid that I’ve grown enormous respect for.  Ty Hensley. A young man with a cause and a dream.  Both will be achieved, but he’ll need the fans and people who believe in this special cause to make it work. Don’t know what I mean? Keep reading…

About a month ago Ty reached out for alittle help.  All the Hensley’s wanted from us here at BYB was to mention this important cause, a teen suicide prevention Public Service Announcement that Ty was apart of. But it was more than that, the goal was simple; Ty’s family and Be Edmond wanted to raise $40,000 for a APP to be put on all teen's phones. 

In a nutshell, it's an APP that would work as a crisis hotline, meaning, if a teen needed help, if a teen needed to talk, that APP was right at their fingertips and they could reach out and talk to a specialist right away.  I found the cause to be important and promised I would help get the word out. After all, I have kids, many of you do and sometimes being a parent can be a tricky thing. Wouldn't it be reassuring to know that there was extra help out there if your son or daughter needed it? That's why this cause is so important.

Since then, The Hensleys, BYB, Yankee fans and some celebrities like Kristin Chenoweth also tweeted our story (HERE) about Ty's cause and all we ask is that if you believe in helping kids, DONATE.  That's it.  Share this story, make people aware.  That's it.  It's about Suicide Prevention and it's important.  And if you’re not sure how to Donate, I’ll make it easy, CLICK HERE and make a donation. Bottom line, we want more people to Retweet this.  We want more people to donate.  We want more celebrities and sports writers to jump in and make people aware of this important cause. 

Look, there are a lot of causes in this world. I’m happy to help promote many of them, but this one hits home.  Again, many of us have kids. Many of us want our kids to succeed and many of us don’t want them to ever feel the pressures of failure or bullying.  They need to cope, they need to continue trying and they can’t worry about failure.  Ironically, failure makes you stronger, at least that’s how I’ve always tried to explain it to my children.

Take a moment, watch the PSA and think about making a donation.



Look, Ty Hensley’s trying to make a difference here.  He could have done it as an established New York Yankee 4 years down the line.  He’s not.  He’s doing it now because he understands the importance of wearing the pinstripes and what it means and how celebrity can bring awareness to this very, very important cause.  So think about it.

Ty has made a very adult decision for a kid trying to climb the ladder and follow his dream.  All he wants is for others to feel like they can do it too.  It’s not only very adult, it’s brave and noble… you really have to give this kid credit.   Truth be told, I’m proud to help out any way I can when it comes to the Hensleys... and that's the truth. Think about doing the same.  Let's rally...

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

THE MAKING OF A LEADER

When you're born, you're taught about rising to the top, becoming a leader and gaining courage along the way. In life, you grow, but you only succeed if you make mistakes.  I'm a true believer in that.  I tell my son's that mistakes make men men, because you learn from mistakes.  The next time around, you don't make that mistake, and then, you succeed, only to reach a new obstacle and new challenges. That's just a life lesson, but if you use that formula, you cannot lose.

Enter a kid named Ty Hensley.  I gotta tell you, I like this kid. He's going to be something special one day and you want to know how I know that? Because my 10 year, who has pictures of Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter in his room asked me about "goals" the other day. I mentioned determination, hard work, practice and the name Ty Hensley came up.  Mind you, My son never heard of Ty Hensley.  But when you talk about character and passion and baseball, those ideals perk my son's ears up, especially if those baseball role models have those characteristics, like in a young kid like Ty Hensley.  My son tends to follow those footsteps and learns from them, not all at once, but in baby steps. I couldn't ask for anything more.  Trust me, this wasn't a hard nosed conversation my son & I were having. It was casual. We were in my car, driving from the food store. But, the next day on the way to school, my 10 year old asked if I thought he should get a picture of Ty Hensley for his room.  I smiled.  Little did he know that BYB chats with and writes about the one and only... and of course, his lovely family, (read HERE.)

So why am I telling you all of this?  Well, the message is clear.  We here at Bleeding Yankee Blue are doing the work that many would like to do, but don't want to take time to do.  Why are we doing it?  It's simple.  When someone has a cause that helps other people and we believe in it... let's just say, we're "all in."

Ty Hensley made an adult decision last week and through communication with him and his family, and BE Edmond, we are happy to help promote Ty's Public Service Announcement bringing awareness to Teen suicide prevention.  You see, the Henlsey's want to raise $40,000 to to build an APP for teen phones so, if for instance, they need a crisis center to chat with, it's at their fingertips.  They are slowly but surely accomplishing their goal.

Now, I'm not sure if you guys know how to donate and where to donate.  It's simple.  All you need to do is click HERE.  Once you do, there's a DONATE button.  Click on it and donate what you can, anything you can... It's that simple.

Look, if stars like Kristin Chenoweth have now jumped in to Retweet our link (HERE), you know it's important.  I once said that MAKING A DIFFERENCE STARTS WITH ONE PERSON, and snowballs into a bunch of people that believe in the same cause. This, in turn creates a movement. I wasn't talking about myself.  I was talking about a kid from Oklahoma with a dream... that's Ty Hensley. A kid with a following and he hasn't even pitched a full season yet.  But with drive, character, determination, anything is possible.  And Yes, BYB will get on board with that... you should too.

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.