Sunday, January 25, 2015

Gardner, Teixeira accept awards at BBWAA dinner

Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner and first baseman Mark Teixeira were two of those honored during the 2015 BBWAA dinner Saturday night in New York, both seeming to accept their awards with much gratitude. 

"I'd like to thank the Yankees organization not only for being so committed to putting such a winning product on the field, but for taking a chance on me in the draft back in 2005," Gardner said after being presented the Good Guy Award for his cooperation with the media. "It's been a real honor to go out every night and put those pinstripes on and I love playing the game of baseball and I love doing it for the Yankees."

Former Yankees beat writer Marc Craig preceded Gardner with a story to demonstrate the latter's deserving of the accolade, in which Gardner replied to a message from Craig after the then-rookie had gone home. Taking place prior to Opening Day of 2009, Gardner's "good guy" act came shortly after he was named the Yankees' starting center fielder that season, when Craig was also new to the team's clubhouse. 

As for Teixeira, he was honored with the Joan Payson Humanitarian Award for his extensive community service, especially his work with children in New York's inner city. 

"New York is a special place," Teixeira said at the podium. "Yankee Stadium is a special place. To be able to put on the pinstripes everyday is something I'll never forget. Another special place for me in New York is Harlem RBI."

Harlem RBI is an organization at which Teixeira often volunteers, coaching and teaching about baseball. In 2011, Teixeira donated $1 million to the charity, and continues to raise money for it to this day.

His website, www.dreamteam25.org, currently collects contributions.

"Long after my career is over, kids that we coach at Harlem RBI are going to forget about my stats, they are going to forget how many games we won, they are going to forget how many home runs I hit," Teixeira said. "But they will remember the impact that we had as an organization on their lives."

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)