First encounter between a Yankee skipper and the Latino Spanish Language Press (LS/Bill Menzel)

Bronx, New York - An offshoot of the Spanish Language Media Conferences formally organized by the Latino Sports Writers and Broadcasters Association (LSWBA), and Latino Sports to give the Latino Media closer access to, but not exclusively Latino baseball players – the Yankees Media Department under its director Jason Zilo has just concluded the Yankees' Monthly Hispanic Press Conference for the month of August with team skipper Joe Girardi. It is the first time a Yankees manager meets the Spanish speaking press. The conference took place on the afternoon of Wednesday just before the evening game with the Texas Rangers.

Joe Girardi with Maria Hernandez, hired by the NY Yankees to serve as the translator for what have become Bilingual Press Conferences (LS/Bill Menzel)

Life is great for the New York Yankees these days, who have the AL's best record at 78-47, especially after they poached the gorilla in the room otherwise known as their 0-8 record against the Boston Red Sox to start the season – a record that has since improved to 6-9 after they treated their rivals to a 4-game sweep in the Bronx earlier this month, and won two of three games last weekend at Fenway Park.

Forgive the pun on actor Tom Hanks' latest film, but despite a six game lead in the AL East, there are other demons left to be conquered, most notably the Anaheim Angels, whom at 74-50, own the second best record in the American League and a 6-2 edge in the head-to-head against New York this season. With home field advantage at stake in the race for the AL's best record, which would be the difference between a game 7 in Anaheim, or The Bronx, the Yankee manager was adamant on how important it is for his team to stay on pace.

Jason Latimer the moderator of the news conference picks and chooses (LS/Bill Menzel)

"We haven't played well in Anaheim," said Girardi, 44, who sat through a devastating 4-game sweep at the hands of the Halos shortly before the All-Star break. "We beat them two out of three times here at home, but we have to go out there and prove that we can beat them out there in Anaheim."

"But in this division, you can't relax," he added. "Tampa Bay is there and Boston is always in it, so we have to stay focused because those teams are good. The team has to keep pressing; it's very important that we keep playing the way we have."

For now, the Yankees can put those Angels on the backburner, as the 70-54 Texas Rangers have proven they can be more than a handful. On Monday night, the Yankees suffered a tough 10-9 loss to the surging Rangers, who're only 2.5 games behind the Red Sox in the Wild Card, after falling short in the ninth inning in a game in which Joba Chamberlain pitched horribly.

And their skipper, Joe Girardi, who was the subject of harsh criticism last year for being at the helm of the first Yankees team that failed to reach the playoffs in a fully played MLB season since 1993, often puts that very concept of hard work in perspective when it comes to making contributions to the community.

This is the back end of, ah, of the news conference (LS/Bill Menzel)

The humble manager knows a thing or two about the virtue if giving and using the fruits of his profession as a means to help the less fortunate - specifically Bronx little leaguers in the neighborhoods juxtaposed to Yankee Stadium, where inadequate funding in organized youth leagues makes it difficult for those wide-eyed MLB hopefuls in the area to be well equipped on the field of play.

Such was clear in his response to a Latino Sports inquiry into what prompts said generosity, which dates back to when he was a player on the Yankees during their dynasty in the late 1990s.

"I've always believed, because of my upbringing, that every child deserves a chance play little league [baseball]," the Peoria, Illinois native told Latino Sports. "They deserve to have gloves, to have [cleats], to have gloves, the same as I did when I was a kid.