Sixty years after declaring that the dugout was no place for a girl, the Yankees rectified their error and a fan’s dream finally came true.

During the 1961 baseball season, 10-year-old Gwen Goldman wrote to her favorite team. She asked to be a bat girl. In a letter, the Yankees declined her request. Gwen kept the letter.

“While we agree with you that girls are certainly as capable as boys, and no doubt would be an attractive addition on the playing field, I am sure you can understand that in a game dominated by men a young lady such as yourself would feel out of place in a dugout,” wrote then team General Manager Roy Hamey.

Since that time, girls and women have applied for positions and have achieved success in Major League Baseball. Charley Finley, one-time owner of the Athletics, introduced girls to snag foul balls during games. Women are in management positions, with the Yankees featuring two successful woman assistant general managers. Women have owned or run teams. Women also have been slotted in many other positions from the low minors to the majors.

Not too long ago, Gwen’s daughter, Abby, sent the letter from 60 years ago to the current Yankees general manager. Brian Cashman then wrote a new letter Gwen, stating that she finally could fulfill her childhood dream.

“Despite the fact that six decades have passed since you first aspired to hold down the position as a New York Yankees Bat Girl,” wrote Brian, “it is not too late to reward and recognize the ambition you showed in writing that letter to us as a 10-year-old girl.”

So, during a game a few weeks ago, Gwen served as a Yankees honorary bat girl and threw the game’s ceremonial first pitch.

“The Yankees have just been so gracious to honor me with this…and to see that girls can stand here, and we can be bat girls, too, and we can be in the front office,” said Gwen, who wore the full uniform of the team she loved as a child.

Gwen had attended games with her father. When she was away at summer camp, he mailed to her newspapers clippings about her team. Gwen now hopes that her story will inspire young women, including her daughters and granddaughter, to chase their dreams.

Though it’s summer, Curran Skoglund is out of the pool. Competitively, that is.

Curran comes from a swimming family, but at an early age he preferred to become a runner. Eventually, though, he caught on and caught up for the time he missed in the pool, becoming one of the top swimmers in New York State Section 1. Curran swam for Suffern High School in Rockland County. He was team captain during senior year, graduating with a 3.84 grade point average and with countless strokes to the honor roll.

The swimmer still likes to run, and he treads the land as much as he plies the water. Curran was team captain of his school’s cross-country team during his senior year. As a volunteer firefighter, I guess he also knows how to combine land with water.

Curran believes in keeping a solid and organized schedule to balance his studies, sports activities and life. He just plans each day be telling himself that he will have a good day. He gives each day everything he can and does his best during each moment.

Now that his next step is college, Curran’s focus is to become an athletic trainer. He also hopes to join the school’s swim and/or track teams.

While waiting to start his higher education, Curran recently provided some advice to future Rockland high school scholar-athletes: “Put in the work. For me, that’s always how it’s been. Try your best. Don’t go halfway, if you really want it, you gotta own it and go for it.”