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Series
Just Another Day at Summer Camp for Mariano
Greg Van Voorhis
Sports Editor
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Just “how fast do you think you can throw it?”
asked a voice hiding beneath a Yankees hat. “Real
fast,” arrogantly replied a boy wearing the same
hat.“ Oh yeah, well I can throw it twice as fast as
you can,” the first voice answered back.
This is just one of many common dialogues you can hear
children discuss at any local day camp, but this
particular challenge took place, not between two
children, as one might assume, but between a nine year
old summer camper and Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera.
After hearing that Mariano’s fastball has been
clocked at 96MPH, he has a 2.85ERA, 58 strikeouts, a 7-4
record in 2000, the nine year old still wouldn’t
back down. “So what if you can,” the nine year
old said, “I can hit a home run off you.”
Mariano chuckled, “that’s the way to always
think,” and kept on with his speech. Mariano visits
a handful of camps every summer to speak to campers about
the importance of teamwork and making goals. “When I
was a child living in Panama, all I dreamed about was
playing baseball for the Major Leagues. But if I did not
make goals in my life, I would never have made it here,”
says Mariano into a microphone at a local day camp just
outside of the Bronx.
“Making goals is very important, because it keeps
people working hard to get what they want. For me it was
to be a baseball player. For you it can be different: to
be a football player, what Americans call soccer, a
doctor, a nurse, a teacher, anything you want,” says
Mariano.
Mariano attributes his success to the fact that he would
set attainable goals, and once he achieved them, he would
make a new set, so that he would keep going. “My
number one goal was to play baseball in the Major
Leagues, but to make that happen, I made other smaller
goals like doing well in school so I can play baseball,
and seeing how many players I can strike out in a game.
This made me work hard every day.”
“It’s always nice when a player of Mariano’s
magnitude is willing to come speak to kids about how he
got to where he is today, because it makes these kids
believe that they can do it too one day,” says the
director of the summer camp. Her continues, “Mariano’s
a great guy; he’s spoken at our camp for a number of
years now, and he is always very gracious about it, and
has no problems giving autographs to campers and staff
after he speaks, which is something very few players are
willing to do. Usually, they speak and leave right away.
Mariano’s special.”
“I think it’s great for these kids to have
somebody that they root for and admire come speak to them
here at camp. Every day at camp I see a bunch of kids on
the mound pretending to be Mariano, and for them to get
to meet him and shake his hand is really cool,” says
5th grade counselor Anthony Golaso, a resident of the
Bronx. “I even go to the mound and try to be like
him sometimes.”
“What makes Mariano special to these kids is that
they know who’s genuine, and who’s not,”
says the director of the camp. “ You can’t lie
to kids. They know who’s here because they care, and
who’s here who don’t. Mariano truly does, and
the kids know it.”
Mariano wore his child-like smile throughout his talk,
even as the nine-year old boy challenged his fast-ball.
Mariano explained that he remembered being a child, and
how he would have felt had he met a professional ball
player. He knows what just his presence means to children
who chose him as their role model, and even those who don’t
care too much about baseball. Mariano is all about giving
and helping.
Even though his streak of innings pitched without giving
up a run in the playoffs ended during this last playoff
run, he has scored a big hit with the kids at the camp,
and kids everywhere. Keep up the good work Mariano.
OOPS! They Did it Again....
Greg Van Voorhis
Sports Editor
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Get your glasses ready, pop the cork, and fill
‘em up. Chamagne for everybody.... The Yankees have three-peated, and who ever doubted them?
Well, October chills bring Yankee thrills. The New York
Yankees have won again. They have now won three in a row,
and five out of the last six World Series titles. Dare we
say dynasty? Absolutely.
Other than the Chicago Bulls of the 90s, there has not
been a more dominating team in any sport in a long time.
It is almost as if they are fitting anyone wearing Yankee
pin-stripes up for a ring every time spring training
rolls around, because we all know who’s taking home
the crown. So when they seem like they are at their
lowest, and we start to doubt, we just end up hearing
ourselves say, “OOPS! They did it again....”
This, though, may be the end of the Yankees as we’ve
known them since the beginning of their incredible run.
If you take a look at the roster over the past years, you
will notice that the inevitable deterioration of the
dynasty has slowly started, and won’t stop now.
Players have been added, and players have been lost.
There have been new heros and old heros, but there have
always seemed to be heros in any case for the Yankees, so
although the team may be changing, they show no signs
that their success will hit a snag as well.
Chuck is fairly new, and he may have just played his last
game as a Yankee. Paul may be on his way out of town.
Scott, known for his amazing play at 3rd base, may be
gone too. But as we say goodbye to these Yankee heros, we
welcome Justice, Canseco, and whomever the Yankees will
throw their money at this off-season. In any case, get
those corkscrews ready in the spring, October’s only
a few short months away.
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