The Yankees family suffered a sudden and devastating loss on Thursday when Herman Hernandez, the co-founder and general manager of Hank Steinbrenner’s Hank’s Yanks under-18 baseball team, died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 52.
Hernandez and Yankees senior adviser and consultant to the Steinbrenner family, Ray Negron, started Hank’s Yanks in 2010. Four of their players were signed by professional baseball organizations. Two, pitcher Leonel Vinas and third baseman Matt Durant, are working out at the team’s Minor League complex in Tampa, Fla. Another, Tony Nunez, is preparing for his first season at Hillsborough Community College.
Nunez was in class when he received a message of Hernandez's passing.
"Herman made an immediate impression on me," Nunez said in an e-mail. "While I was a new arrival worrying about earning a spot on the team, Herman was welcoming, helpful and encouraging from the moment I arrived. He appeared to be Ray's brother and right-hand man.
"It wasn't long before Herman and his family became members of my family. I will always remember Herman's helpful ways, his sunny disposition, and his talks about food and his coffee, but most of all I will remember his bigger-than-life smile. He has left an an impact on me and I will always remember him. Ray always tells me there's two type of people, good people and bad people, and Herman was just a good guy. These guys gave kids an opportunity of a lifetime."
Negron is also an author of three top-selling children’s books and the executive producer of the upcoming animated film, “Henry and Me,” based on his recent release, One Last Time: Good-Bye to Yankee Stadium. He shares his recollections of Hernandez with reactions from Steinbrenner, Hank’s Yanks players and actor Danny Aiello, a friend who helped mentor the team.
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Just a Good Guy: Hank's Yanks lose a visionary
By Ray Negron
If you ever went to a Hank's Yanks game you would always hear the roar of laughter. The closer you got to the field the louder the laughter became. When you finally got to the bleachers you would catch a glimpse of where the laughter was coming from. Naturally, it would be our very jovial general manager Herman Hernandez.
No matter how rough times may have been, Herman always found a reason to make everybody feel good about themselves. The kids always came first in the daily life of Hank's Yanks. When I say kids, I am talking about his kids and the Hank's Yanks kids. Herman lived for the game and his love was for the kids. He had an idea to take kids from the inner city that were involved in gangs and bring them to play baseball. When he taught the kids to believe in themselves and their talent he brought the idea to Hank Steinbrenner and myself, and that was the birth of Hank's Yanks.
One of the happiest moments that Herman had while with Hank's Yanks was the day that Hank Steinbrenner walked up to him and said, “You’re doing an incredible job.”
“This is a terrible time in the Hank's Yanks family,” Steinbrenner said. “I will never forget his smile. I will never forget his energy for those kids. This is a big loss for Hank’s Yanks and an even bigger loss for his family and his community.”
I have known Herman for 40 years. We played baseball together and I don't think that I ever knew anyone that loved the game more. There aren't words to explain how much he will be missed. He is irreplaceable. It just can't be done. Actor and mentor to Hank's Yanks Danny Aiello was saddened at the passing of Herman and said, “He was one of the coolest guys you’re ever going to meet.”
When reached at the Yankees’ Minor League complex, former Hank's Yanks players Leonel Vinas and Matt Duran wiped tears from their eyes. “We would not be playing professional baseball without the compassion of Herman Hernandez. We are eternally grateful for what he did for us.”
Hank's Yanks catcher Bryan Drommerhauser, through his tears, could only get out that “the beauty of Herman was that we always came first, Herman was another father to us and we all knew it."
William Jerez, a former Hank's Yanks player who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox, said that “hearing this news has broken my heart. It's very hard to find a nicer person than Herman Hernandez.”
"Whenever someone passes away people say how wonderful of a person they were and how empty the world will be without them, but it’s usually just to make for a pretty speech,” Steinbrenner said. “In Herman’s case its true. The greatest kind of person you can be is one who lives for others and Herman was exactly that type of person. He will be mourned and missed by every life he touched. My family and I send our deepest sympathies to Herman's family and will always remember him as the wonderful person he was.”
Whenever me and Hank took our bows for Hank's Yanks the bows were always directed at Herman.
A wonderful man
A wonderful Dad
An incredible husband
We will always love you
Follow Jon Lane on Twitter: @JonLaneNYC
