There have certainly been a number of big-time baseball players in Major League Baseball from the San Gabriel Valley, but not all of them have been, for lack of better words, great role models. Some certainly have, but the man of the moment is Texas Rangers shortstop Michael Young. His $10,000 donation to the Ortega Family speaks volumes. Here’s a guy who grew up in Covina, played at Bishop Amat, is an all-star and shown here winning the MVP in the all-star game. I thought one of the best quotes from Monday’s charity game that raised $18,000 came from Northview coach Darren Murphy.

“It’s incredible what he did. Most people think because you have a lot of money that it’s not such a big deal, but it’s still amazing for him to do it. He didn’t have to do it. He’s (Young) still in Texas, this was all communicated through the telephone and the news. He reached back and wanted to give back to his community. I would hope that he’s (Young) the guy that our young kids in the area would look up to now. He’s everything that I would want my players to be like. His donation just tells you what kind of person he is.”