Tonight the Yankees will be at Fenway Park to start another series with their arch rivals, the Boston Red Sox. Whenever they play Boston I think back to all the history they made there, a lot of it good and some of it not-so-good. One of those not-so-good moments was the argument and near-fight in the dugout between Reggie Jackson and Billy Martin during a game in 1977. A young Latino man from Queens, New York, just a few years removed from his teens, was right in the middle of that altercation. He was also present for many other important moments in Yankee history, taking place from 1973 to today. His name, in case you didn't know, is Ray Negron. Mr Negron has just written a new book about these experiences, entitled, Yankee Miracles: Life With The Boss & The Bronx Bombers. Yankee Miracles tells the story of how a teenager drawn to the negative aspects of the inner city was plucked from it's clutches by the owner of the most successful team in sports history. Young Ray was caught spray-painting an interlocking NY on the outside wall of Yankee Stadium and, instead of having him arrested, George Steinbrenner gave him a job as a batboy. As the story unfolds, we see Ray learning life lessons from and developing close relationships with some of the biggest Yankee stars, including Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson and Billy Martin. But he learned some of his biggest lessons and had an even closer relationship with Mr Steinbrenner. The owner always made sure Ray Negron had some kind of job with the team, and the family continues to provide that job security to him to this day, as he works for the team as a community adviser.
While I read the book, I got a a real sense that Mr Negron thought of himself as a member of the team's 40-man roster. But it wasn't at all silly of him to think that way. Players, coaches, and executives alike are portrayed in the book as always treating Ray Negron like one of the guys. He even roomed with Bucky Dent on road trips. But this story is not just about some guy being a hanger-on, or a wanna-be Yankee. It is about a man who learned how to create miracles for people, after one was created for him that day in 1973 outside of Yankee Stadium. Many pages are devoted to how he learned to help people the way Mr Steinbrenner helped him.
Yankee Miracles: Life With The Boss & The Bronx Bombers is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. I highly recommend it. Go buy it today.
2 comments:
So the book wasn't juicy with gossip then I take it? I was avoiding it for that reason. But it sounds like he has every reason to write as an appreciative human being. That makes it interesting to me. Thanks.
No, no gossip at all. He had, and has, a complete love affair with the New York Yankees.
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