Grandson would like to carry on Steinbrenner's legacy

Although George Steinbrenner was as demanding and relentless a boss as there is, there's another side to him that only recently has been getting public attention. He's long been a generous contributor to various charities, often with an eye on helping children.

That's part of the reason one of his grandsons took part in a stickball event before 250 kids at a Bronx school Tuesday, so he could begin following in the footsteps of his famous grandfather.

Robert Molloy, 18, who recently graduated from high school in Tampa, Fla., faced off against Yankees utility player Kevin Russo in a home run contest on the ballfield at St. Francis de Chantal Parish School just across the Throgs Neck Bridge.

Neither Molloy nor Russo hit a home run - both admitted that using a stickball bat was a lot harder than a normal baseball bat - but the children taking a break from school didn't seem to mind. They cheered loudly for both guys during their alternating rounds of batting practice.

Russo, who was born in West Babylon and moved to Colorado when he was 3 years old, told the kids that he's "living a dream right now, which I can't even tell you how amazing this is." Part of the fun for Russo was that it didn't seem that long ago when he was on a field playing Little League.

But the fun for Molloy was doing something that surely makes George Steinbrenner proud.

"I feel great doing this, being around these kids," Molloy said. "I do want to be like my granddad, and I feel like doing things like this will help me get to be the way he is, in a way."

Molloy plays first base on a Tampa-based elite team and he is planning to try out for a Division II college baseball team. When Yankees community relations consultant Ray Negron heard Molloy was going to be in town this weekend with his stepfather Felix Lopez, a Yankees vice chairman, Negron asked Molloy if he would be interested in taking part in yesterday's event.

The answer was yes, and afterward, Molloy said he is looking forward to doing more things like this. And who knows? With ownership of the team clearly staying in the Steinbrenner family, maybe one day he could be making some of the baseball decisions, too.