This morning George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees died after suffering a heart attack last night. Other news sources will cover how he died and the condition of his health but this article will focus on the colorful man that oversaw the best team in baseball.
Mr. Steinbrenner had garnered a lot of negative criticism over the decades because of the increase of players salaries to levels never seen before in baseball and interfering in the decisions of the coaches sometimes on a daily basis. His fiery attitude did not help his reputation and was nicknamed "The Boss." Despite his temper he knew how to manage a baseball team and during his ownership of the Yankees the team won seven World Series and 11 pennants turning the franchise into a dynasty that is still performing well to this day. However, his will to win got him in some trouble outside of baseball.
A year after taking over the Yankees Steinbrenner pleaded guilty to making illegal money contributions to President Richard Nixon's campaign and was charged a monetary fine and suspended from base ball for 15 months. Fortunately for Steinbrenner President Ronald Reagan pardoned the guilty owner in 1989.
Steinbrenner returned to the Yankees in 1976 and aggressively perused high priced free agents and was known for his ability to fire and then rehire coaches in the same week and he took the teams failures as a personal matter. After the 1981 World Series loss he claimed that he got in a fist fight with two Dodge fans and then issued a personal apology to the city of New York for the loss of his team.
I encourage anyone interested in baseball history to read about George Steinbrenner because he was blessed with the ability to piss people off and create winning franchises. His strong ability to get free agents allowed the Yankees to win the 1998, 1999 and the 2000 World Series effectively creating one of the best dynasties in all of professional sports. Despite the criticisms, he will be a hard man to replace and someday, people may miss that fire he instilled in the team.
Sources;
MLB.com
New York Yankees: One Hundred Years by Mark Vancil