NY Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 80. He was a lightning rod of criticism as well as a pillar of strength for an organization that was going nowhere when he acquired it. He could have had the Indians, and quite possibly turned them into a perennial powerhouse, but was outbid in his efforts to purchase the club back in 1973. He is, and I know it's been said before (like 1,000 times yesterday), solely responsible for the outrageous salaries that athletes make today. He was never afraid to spend his money, so long as he believed in the individual. He put a lot of pressure on his players, and ultimately on himself. When you have the highest payroll in sports every year, there is an extreme pressure to succeed. And succeed he did.
During his time as owner of the Yankees, they won 7 World Series Titles, 11 American League Pennants, 16 AL East Titles, and 3 Wild Card berths. Not a bad body of work. And from what people say, he was a hell of a man off the field as well - community service, charity work, donations, giving a guy who he found spray painting Yankee Stadium a job. The list goes on and on.
Had he not won 7 World Series', we may not have celebrated his life as you've seen in the past day or so. But he did, and people of all walks of life speak only great things of The Boss.
He was a character on 13 Seinfeld episodes and never physically appeared on the show. George Costanza worked for him (if you can call it work) and was one of the most hilarious parts of the show. He hosted Saturday Night Live in 1990. He was a huge fan of General George S. Patton. He signed Hideki Irabu to a huuuuuge contract - and it backfired, the guy sucked. He also signed Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter. He gave Joe Torre a chance when he was hardly established as a manager. The Yankees are the Yankees because of him. The old Stadium was "the house that Ruth built" and the new Stadium is "the house that George built". Pretty amazing stuff.
Jerry Jones even looked up to him. Donald Trump looked up to him. Bobby Knight, for Christs sake, looked up to this man. Why? Because to George Steinbrenner, winning was second to breathing.
Thanks George. You will always be "The Boss" to Yankee fans worldwide. Rest In Peace.
RIP George Steinbrenner, "The Boss" (1930-2010)
