Sweeny: Two Yankees Greats Assist A Great Cause

By Sweeny Murti
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Last Saturday night, Yankee greats Bernie Williams and Don Mattingly teamed up for a great cause. It was Bernie's 10th annual Neighbors Helping Neighbors Benefit for the Hillside Food Outreach, an organization that works tirelessly to feed hungry families in the Hudson Valley.

My participation in the evening involved a Q&A with Bernie and Donnie. Those in attendance heard some fun stories, from their early memories of each other as teammates to Mattingly's final days as a Yankee in 1995. They held court for about thirty minutes, but honestly, I think we could have listened to those two tell stories for hours on end.

With the recent retirement of Jorge Posada, another Yankee great who chose retirement rather than extending his career in another uniform, I asked Donnie and Bernie to reflect on the somewhat sudden ends to their own careers:

For the record, Bernie has never officially retired. I tried to get him to say it Saturday night, but all I could get out of him was "it is getting closer."

My thanks to Don Mattingly for attending, and thanks to Bernie Williams as well for continuing his commitment to this cause. It is an honor for me to participate every year.

Mattingly returns this year to Los Angeles for his second year as manager of the Dodgers. His son Preston recently signed on as a minor league free agent with the Yankee organization.

Bernie continues his music career and will dabble in baseball, returning to Tampa for a few days as a guest instructor next month.

Yankees pitchers and catchers will report to camp February 19th, two weeks from Super Bowl Sunday.

Sweeny Murti
Yankees@wfan.com
www.twitter.com/YankeesWFAN