What can I say? I heart George and George hearts kids who do good things. Here's the gist: A 12-year-old New York Yankees fan saved $1,000 (Holy cow! I couldn't do that when I was twelve!) so he could go to a game in the Bronx gave up the money to help keep his school open (he gave up his money to go to school!? That's a humanitarian!). Big Stein found out and not only replaced the kid's thousand dollars but invited him to New York for a personal tour and to check out batting practice. Here's an excerpt of the letter"

"Jonathan, I couldn't be more proud of you," Steinbrenner wrote to Jonathan Farrar, a student in the Midland School District of Pleasant Plains. "I agree with you when you said, `The New York Yankees are important to me, but my school is more important.' You're absolutely right and it takes quite a man to give up his personal dream for a higher purpose."

"Undoubtedly, you will be very successful regardless of the career path you choose," Steinbrenner wrote. "But just in case you choose major league baseball, I'll be keeping the first base position open for you."

I love that he rewarded this kid for doing a very honorable thing and I love that sense of humor at the end. He reminds me of the typical ornery grandpa in sitcoms that has that twinkle in his eye and a heart of gold once you get down to it. Oh, and as an aside, he also paid for Tim Battle's (a Yankee prospect) chemotherapy treatments a couple years ago as well.