WHAT JETER DID FOR A GENERATION OF BALLPLAYERS

I found this fascinating and wanted to bring it to your attention. Plus, you're only going to get this information here at Bleeding Yankee Blue because it was exclusive to us in the first place.

Look, there was something that I always had in the back of my mind as I interviewed up and coming players, as well as other former Yankees that manned the position of shortstop before Derek Jeter.  I knew that one day Derek Jeter would retire.  I mean, we all did... Now that he's made his announcement, I wanted to do something different.  I went back and I looked for all those questions and answers of these players and I wanted to share them with you in one post.  It's special to me because I know just how special Derek Jeter is to them.  Many of these kids grew up wanting to play baseball all because of Derek Jeter.  Some of them have been lucky enough to play for the Yankees... and have finally met the the guy face to face.  In other words, it's come full circle for all of them.

Not to mention, guys like Roy Smalley, a solid shortstop for the Yankees and now a former player that told me he was a "Jeter fan."  How amazing is that?  Jeter has made generations of baseball players past and present love the game because they love the way Derek Jeter plays, and carries himself on and off the field.  Check this out, I think you'll really enjoy it:

BYB: Who are some of the other players you looked up to?

Dante Bichette Jr: My favorite player now is Derek Jeter. ... Of course, I like how he plays when he's on the field but I really admire his quiet confidence when he goes about his business.
(Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: DANTE BICHETTE JR for more)

BYB: Who were the guys you stuck with? What was Derek Jeter like, you being the new guy?

Juan Padilla: The clubhouse was something else, just thinking about all the great players that walk through that clubhouse game me the chills... I was surrounded by great players I watched every night on TV and now I was right there being part of the team. Derek Jeter was absolutely awesome with me. He treated me very nice and put me under his wing...
(Read CHATTING IT UP WITH JUAN PADILLA for more) 

BYB: People are already calling you the next Derek Jeter.  How does that make you feel and how do you stay focused throughout the media circus? 

Cito Culver: I feel honored to even be mentioned in the same sentence as Derek. I don't think there will ever be another Derek Jeter, so it's unfair to say I am the next. I am just happy to have the opportunity to play for the Yankees and I hope I can make a difference in the future. (Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CITO CULVER for more) 

BYB: Growing up, who did you idolize and why? 

Rob Segedin: I grew up a Yankees fan and started watching baseball when Derek Jeter was a rookie. He is what the Yankees are about in every aspect. The way he plays the game, the way he represents himself on and off the field. He just does everything right. It was fun to be able to watch him growing up and then be in the same locker room with him.
(Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ROB SEGEDIN for more) 

BYB: Tyler, have you ever been star struck by a baseball player? Who was it and why were you star struck? 

Tyler Austin: My All-time favorite player is Derek Jeter and I got to meet him in Spring Training.  I idolized him since I was a little boy and patterned my life on and off the field after Mr. Jeter.  I went to shake his hand and finally got to meet him and I couldn’t even get his name out because I was so nervous... I want to take in any advice he would offer me.  It would be an honor for me just to be on the same field with him and to share the clubhouse with a man such as he.
(Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: TYLER AUSTIN for more) 

BYB: How was a guy like Derek Jeter in the Yankee clubhouse? Is he truly a team player?

Clay Rapada: He will go down as one of my top favorite teammates.

  
BYB: Which guy on the Yankees right now are you a "fan" of,  not just because of his playing ability, but also because they are a wonderful role model and why?

Roy Smalley: I am a huge fan of Derek Jeter.  The professionalism and talent with which he has played the game since his first season with the Yankees is example for players and fans everywhere.  When the Yankees came here to Minnesota after Derek had gotten his 3,000th hit, I made a point of visiting him in the locker room and told him that as a former shortstop and on behalf of shortstops everywhere, we are proud of what he has done and how he has gone about doing it.  That was less about 3,000 hits and everything about the example he is on the field (and off, too).
Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ROY SMALLEY for more) 

I thought this was cool... I hope you enjoyed it!
 
Thank you to all the Bleeding Yankee Blue readers for continued success.  You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in the history of Yankees fandom.  Thanks for reading, sharing and enjoying. Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.

THE YANKEES DO GREAT THINGS

I like what I read the other day about none other than Bernie Williams. He went to Little Ferry, New Jersey and did something nice, real nice in fact.  He delivered baseball equipment to a boy who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy.

As ABC reports (HERE), "...For Michael Odeh, just hanging out with Bernie Williams is as good as an aspiring baseball players' life can get.



Just how the former Yankees star and one of baseball's greats came to meet Michael and his family, which is sometimes emotional, is not as important as why they came together.  'I lost my baseball bats. I lost my gloves. I lost my batting cloves. I lost my cleats, two pair. I lost my under armor. I lost everything,' said Michael Odeh, a student.

Everything was stored when Sandy's floodwaters filled the family's home..."

Eventually everything was restored by Bernie.

Look, I live in the Northeast.  I've seen what that storm did to many families here.  This is just a feel good story that needs to be reported.

Not sure if you remember, but former Yankee Roy Smalley has an organization called  Pitch In for Baseball that does something like this every day too! We asked Smalley about it in our interview with him. Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ROY SMALLEY for more of that, but when I asked him about it, he said:

Roy Smalley: Our mission, to put it simply is to put baseball equipment in the hands of kids who want to play ball but don’t have the resources to do so ... Our current project is our largest and most challenging in our eight-year history.  We will re-supply equipment to over 5,000 kids in New Jersey and New York who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy.  This effort has already begun with deliveries to Island Park, Rockaway, East Rockaway and Bayonne to name a few.  We have received requests recently from Jersey City and Staten Island as well.  It is a huge effort for us and will ultimately require substantially more in the way of equipment and financial contributions from generous donors out there who would like to help..."

Giving back, helping people in need and the Yankees... it don't get much better than this.  Enjoy your Saturday.

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.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: ROY SMALLEY

I'm a sucker for helping others. I appreciate when people take a moment, organize and get help to people in need.  That's why I have written about Yankees like Paul O'Neill, promoting his Right Field Charities, David & Erin Robertson's High Socks for Hope, Ty Hensley, a young Yankee prospect with an important cause... suicide prevention (HERE) and now, something special again. It’s called Pitch In for Baseball, a foundation run by former New York Yankee shortstop Roy Smalley. When I read about Roy's cause to help get all kinds of donations to victims of Hurricane Sandy, I just needed to pick his brain and find out exactly what he wanted to accomplish. It turns out his foundation raised over $150,000 worth of baseball equipment for those kids in the New York and New Jersey areas affected by that storm, a huge accomplishment.  I’m happy to say I was moved and I’m a big fan of Roy Smalley’s now… you should be too.  Here it is, Bleeding Yankee Blue’s interview with Roy Smalley. Enjoy this, I did…

BYB: Mr. Smalley, tell me about Pitch In for Baseball. What is your mission and tell us also about your latest crusade to help the victims of Hurricane?

Roy Smalley: Our mission, to put it simply is to put baseball equipment in the hands of kids who want to play ball but don’t have the resources to do so.  We source new and gently used baseball and softball equipment and distribute it to youth baseball organizations and communities in need.  We accomplish this through equipment and cash donations from individuals and organizations everywhere.  Our recipients include underprivileged and under served communities and those affected by natural disasters.  For example, we have donated equipment to RBI Programs (Reviving Baseball in the Inner City) across the country, to school districts impacted by budget cuts and to Park and Recreation departments in under served areas.  We have re-supplied baseball equipment as part of disaster relief to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Ike, tornadoes that decimated Joplin, Mo and Henryville, In, and the Tsunami that hit Japan.  Our current project is our largest and most challenging in our eight-year history.  We will re-supply equipment to over 5,000 kids in New Jersey and New York who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy.  This effort has already begun with deliveries to Island Park, Rockaway, East Rockaway and Bayonne to name a few.  We have received requests recently from Jersey City and Staten Island as well.  It is a huge effort for us and will ultimately require substantially more in the way of equipment and financial contributions from generous donors out there who would like to help.  We see the happiness on the faces of the kids and the relief on their parents faces knowing that their kids are returning to some sense of normalcy—their baseball season—when normal has seemed impossibly far away.  We know what we and our supporters are doing is very important.

BYB:  Truth be told, I loved it when you were with the Yankees. As a kid who wanted to one day play shortstop for the Yankees myself, I appreciated you there in that position in 1982. Tell me how different it was playing in the Bronx compared to Minnesota with the Twins?

Roy Smalley: Playing shortstop in New York was a phenomenal experience.  The biggest difference between playing for the Yankees and the Twins was the intensity and notoriety that comes from playing for the Yankees.  Everything about the Yankees is hyper-intensity, the fans, the media. It was different compared to Minnesota.

BYB: As an athlete, did you always want to play baseball? If so, did your dad playing have everything to do with that?

(In Photo: Roy Smalley, 1953)
Roy Smalley:  I played all sports growing up, but I started on a mission to play major league baseball when I was 5 years old.  Idolizing my dad had a lot to do with that early on, but he never pushed me into it.  It became clear to me by high school that baseball was the sport in which I had the best chance to have an athletic career.

BYB: As a kid, who did you idolize in baseball besides your dad?

(In Photo: Gene Mauch)
Roy Smalley:  My uncle was Gene Mauch who was like a second father to me.  I also pretty much idolized all big league players.  I was drawn to shortstops, of course, but I’ve always loved and studied great hitters.  For me, that started with Ted Williams and Stan Musial and went through Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Frank Robinson, Oliva, Yaz, Yogi... you get the idea.

BYB:  What was the best part about playing for Billy Martin?

Roy Smalley: Well, I first played for Billy in 1975. He was my first big league manager.  What a way to break in!  By the time I played for him again with the Yankees, I was a pretty established player so the day to day intensity he drew wasn’t as big a deal to me.  I was able to enjoy a really first rate tactical manager.

BYB: While on the Yankees, who was your favorite teammate, or, who did you like hanging with, training with, etc?

(In Photo: Don Baylor)
Roy Smalley:  I liked all the guys on those Yankee teams. Don Baylor and I got very close as teammates in 83 and 84.

BYB: Describe a teammate like Don Mattingly in the clubhouse.

Roy Smalley: When I was there, Don was just establishing himself as the great player he was going to become.  He was quiet and unassuming and just went about his business of refining his considerable skill.  His leadership abilities came out much more after I had been traded in 1984.

BYB: Which guy on the Yankees right now are you a "fan" of,  not just because of his playing ability, but also because they are a wonderful role model and why?

Roy Smalley: I am a huge fan of Derek Jeter.  The professionalism and talent with which he has played the game since his first season with the Yankees is example for players and fans everywhere.  When the Yankees came here to Minnesota after Derek had gotten his 3,000th hit, I made a point of visiting him in the locker room and told him that as a former shortstop and on behalf of shortstops everywhere, we are proud of what he has done and how he has gone about doing it.  That was less about 3,000 hits and everything about the example he is on the field (and off, too).

BYB:  Back to your cause with Pitch In for Baseball... What can you tell the Victims of Sandy still struggling through this cold winter.

Roy Smalley:  We, at PIFB, are just happy to bring some sense of normalcy to their families by way of their kids being able to play ball this year when they thought they wouldn’t. We’d also like to let them know that even after they are not front page news anymore, there are many people out there thinking about them and about how we all can help in some small way.

BYB: Final question. Have you ever seen Bleeding Yankee Blue? It's our website for Yankee fans. What do you think?

Roy Smalley: Congratulations on your website.  I like it very much--very extensive and complete.  Quite impressive.  If I may, I would ask your followers to visit our website, as well, and get involved with us helping kids play ball.  We can be found at pitchinforbaseball.org  Thanks so much for your interest in us.  Who knows, with the help of  Yankee fans, we may be supplying equipment to the next Derek Jeter or Don Mattingly.

He's right! Mr. Smalley, What a pleasure to help promote PIFB and if you readers would like to donate, again, be sure to go to pitchinforbaseball.org and do what you can. You can also text "Give Gloves" to 80088 to make a $10 donation.

I applaud Roy Smalley and thank him for taking to time.  I also want to thank Doug Drotman who is always great getting us quality interviews with former New York Yankees, we appreciate you Doug!

 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.