Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner Dead
By Wyatt Earp | July 13, 2010
Damn.
Love him or hate him – it was always one or the other, because no one was neutral when it came to The Boss – Steinbrenner was the Yankees. He both thrilled and angered Yankees fans (like myself) for four decades, and fired more people than Donald Trump. Through it all, he earned most Yankees fans’ respect.
George Steinbrenner, a towering and intimidating figure who dominated the New York sports scene for 35 years, winning 11 American League pennants and seven world championships as owner of the Yankees, in and around two suspensions from baseball and multiple feuds and firings, died Tuesday morning in Tampa after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 80.
“The Boss” – as he was so aptly named by his longtime antagonist, Daily News columnist Mike Lupica – died at around 6:30 a.m. according to a high placed Yankee source. He had been suffering from failing health, the result of a series of strokes, for the past few years.
In Steinbrenner’s blustering and bombastic reign as the longest-termed owner in their history, the Yankees recovered from the rubble of their darkest era under CBS’ ownership (1964-72) to win world championships in 1977 and 1978, only to fall and then rise again with another dynastic string of four championships under manager Joe Torre from 1996-2000 and then winning a seventh world championship for him under Joe Girardi this past season.
Rest in peace, Boss. You will be missed.
Topics: Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
July 13th, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Never have been a Yankees fan. But I always admired Steinbrenner and the way he took care of the team on his watch.
If only he had bought the Chicago Cubs….
July 13th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
God Bless George Steinbrenner, President George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Carla Fiorina, Meg Wittman, Jan Brewer and The United States Of America.
The Obamination can go piss up a rope!
The great Watuschskie has spoken.
July 13th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
I was not a big fan of George.But he did a great job making the Yankees a power house team.RIP George
July 13th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
*Biting my tongue*
July 13th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Ferrell – They would have a World Series by now, I suspect.
Watuschskie – Should I genuflect now or later?
Rick – He certainly did. Best teams money can buy, but whose fault is that? Until baseball gets a salary cap, they embolden owners like Big Stein.
Fenway – If he were in Boston you would have loved him.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:13 am
I never knew enough about George Steinbrenner to write a decent essay about him, but I always knew this: the mere mention of his name always brought the Yankees to mind.
I also often wondered if he ever liked the recurring portrayal of himself in Seinfeld (it always made me laugh hard). May he rest in peace.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Always liked George. One of those said what he meant, and meant what he said type of guys. RIP. Mr. Steinbrenner.
July 14th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
JT – Already on it.
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I figured as much….I was just making conversation.