Longtime fan finally gets to be a bat girl 60 years after Yankees shot her down

NEW YORK — In 1961, 10-year-old Gwen Goldman was told she would be “an attractive,” addition to the Yankees field, but ultimately she would be too much of a distraction to be a Yankees bat girl by then-GM Roy Hamey.

Sixty years later, the Yankees tried to right an incident that must have been devastating at the time to the young Yankees fan. Monday, the team had the now 71-year-old woman in uniform and on the field as they kicked off their HOPE Week.

After her daughter contacted the Yankees about righting that wrong earlier this year, current Yankees GM Brian Cashman sent a letter inviting her to finally live out her childhood dream.

“Some dreams take longer than they should to be realized, but a goal attained should not dim with the passage of time. On behalf of our entire organization, it would be my great honor for you to join us for our game on Monday, June 28 vs. the Los Angeles Angels to serve as our honorary bat girl for the day,” Cashman wrote in a letter provided by the Yankees.

Goldman was greeted on the field before batting practice by Gerrit Cole, who had been part of a video call to invite her to live out her dream. The ace showed her around the dugout and met with manager Aaron Boone.

“I think it’s really cool. You know, I saw the video chat a couple days ago, Garrett and everyone on the call, and I think it’s awesome. You know, these are the stories that (the Yankees) attract each and every year that ultimately become the stories we focus on for HOPE week. They always seem to be unique in nature. And always incredibly heartwarming. And this is one of those stories,” Boone said. “It was neat for me to get to meet her before I came in here and I’m looking forward to her being on the bench for a couple innings tonight.”

In a year where the sexism that permeates the game has been highlighted in several embarrassing scandals for MLB, the Yankees tried to right at least one sexist wrong in its past.