Episode 118: A Yankee for Life

Ray Negron, Best-Selling Author, NY Yankees Executive, Producer and Inspirational Speaker, joins Joe to discuss his path, his amazing stories of Yankee history, and his other adventures.

Ray’s amazing journey began decades ago when at 16-years of age, he was caught spraying graffiti on a wall at Yankee Stadium by NY Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner. As fate would have it, Steinbrenner decided against putting Ray in jail and instead, offered him a second chance making him the batboy for the greatest franchise in sports history. Ray was propelled into a dream job sharing the dugout with the “Bronx Zoo” team of the seventies. He became a positive influence in the fiery clubhouse that included Manager Billy Martin, superstar Reggie Jackson and the legendary Thurman Munson. And for the next 35 years, Steinbrenner and Ray built a special relationship until Steinbrenner’s passing in 2010.

Steinbrenner’s vision lives on through Ray. As a Community Consultant for the NY Yankees, Ray is immersed in ensuring that veteran players and Yankee rookies promote the tradition of the club’s pride and inspiration by visiting terminally sick kids in hospitals and supporting the inner-city youth throughout New York. He is the founder of “Hank’s Yanks”, a not for profit competitive youth travel baseball team of underprivileged kids (ages 10-18) sponsored by New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner.

Visit his website at: http://theraynegronstory.com/index.html

The Facts

The CUSP Show is a production by the faculty of Sports Management at Columbia University. You can get in touch with the program on Twitter @CU_SPS_Sports. Our presenters are Joe Favorito (@Joefav) and Tom Richardson (@ConvergenceTR).