YES Network.com

Hank’s Yanks, a team New York City players funded by Hank Steinbrenner, captured the Under-18 division’s Baseball Heaven championship with a 5-1 win over the Smithtown Bulls Sunday night in Yaphank, N.Y. This is a team with kids from all walks of life. Some are from single-parent homes. One became a parent to a two-year-old at the age of 17. Another lost both his parents, and thanks to this opportunity afforded to play baseball in a competitive environment, the players have avoided temptations of drugs, crime and a life in a gang, and now cherish a sense of accomplishment.

On August 26, Hank’s Yanks will play Team Mariano, funded by Yankees' closer Mariano Rivera, at Yankee Stadium for the first annual Boss' Cup, in honor of George Steinbrenner and all underprivileged kids in New York City. Winning the tournament was also perfectly timed with the beginning of the Yankees’ second annual HOPE Week endeavor.

“It's ironic that HOPE Week would start now,” Hank Steinbrenner said in a statement. “Hank’s Yanks will forever represent hope.  Knowing these kids the way I have come to know them tells me that the youth of this city can truly do anything they want if they try hard enough.”

One player with projected Major League talent, Leonel Vinas, pitched Hank’s Yanks to victory Sunday night. After every game Vinas led the team in a prayer session. Following the championship game, he closed the prayer with these words: “Let’s not forget that this all started with The Boss.”

“The Boss,” of course, is the late George Steinbrenner, known for his endless charitable contributions to society.

“As sweet and appropriate those words are, we will never forget the Boss,” said Ray Negron, George Steinbrenner’s special assistant and the manager of Hank’s Yanks. “It was beautiful and I’m happy to see that Hank has the Boss’ legacy in his heart.”