On Monday night, New York Yankees Senior Vice President and General Manager Brian Cashman found himself in a place he’d never been: Binghamton, New York.
“It’s unfortunate that I haven’t had a chance to be in Binghamton until 2016,” Cashman said. “But, I’m glad I finally got a chance to get here.”
Cashman served as the featured guest speaker for the Greater Binghamton Hall of Fame induction ceremony, held at the DoubleTree Hotel.
“I’m excited to be here,” Cashman said. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about the Yankees and our history in this town back in the day, so it’s nice to be able to pitch a flag here and say I’ve been.”
The hall was established last year in order to honor “[Binghamton’s] local people (past and present) who have made significant contributions to the world of sports as well as being exemplary individuals,” according to a press release. The net proceeds of the event were donated to the local Boys and Girls Clubs in Binghamton and Western Broome County.
Cashman has served in the Yankees organization for 30 years and has been the general manager of the team since 1998. Under his watch, the Yankees have claimed four World Series Championships. He planned to focus his speech to event attendees around his time with the organization.
“People love hearing about the old tales of [former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner] and the heyday and the championships and the successes and the failures,” Cashman said. “That’s what life’s all about, trying to find ways to have a lot of fun and success more so than the failure. You have to deal with the good and the bad.”
This year’s inductees included a two-time Super Bowl Champion, former New York Giants offensive line Chris Snee. Snee graduated from Montrose High School in nearby Montrose, Pennsylvania. After playing collegiately at Boston College, Snee spent all 10 of his NFL seasons with the Giants. He ended his career as a four-time Pro-Bowler and was a member of the Giants 2008 and 2012 championship teams. Interestingly, Cashman and Snee have a connection.
“I’m somewhat friendly with Chris,” Cashman said. “His brother-in-law was my roommate in the city…To get a chance to see him get inducted in his backyard is kind of cool.”
Eleven other members were inducted into the hall alongside Snee, all of whom competed athletically in the Binghamton area. Another notable member of the hall is former Binghamton High School star basketball player King Rice, a 2015 inductee. Rice went on to play at North Carolina under legendary coach Dean Smith and is currently the coach at Monmouth University in Monmouth, New Jersey.