Love him or hate him, you cannot deny that New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner made an impact on baseball. The 80-year-old owner died of a massive heart attack today at his Tampa home.
One thing is for certain – Steinbrenner always did things his way. Known by Yankee fans as The Boss, Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973 from CBS for $8.7 million. Steinbrenner’s money came from his family – his dad Henry George was the owner of Kinsman Shipping. And, Steinbrenner made even more money off the Yankees. Today, the team’s estimated value is $1.5 billion.
When he bought the Yankees, they had a great legacy, but had been struggling since 1965 when CBS bought them. Under Steinbrenner’s wing, the Yankees became a powerhouse once again, winning the World Series in 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2009.
But, he didn’t make many friends along the way. Some considered Steinbrenner’s Yankee tenure a reign of terror. He fired manager Billy Martin fives, Yankee legend Yogi Berra after only 16 games in 1985, and Dick Howser in 1980, even though he won 103 games. He picked on secretaries who brought the wrong sandwiches, on innocent organ players, even the team president Al Rosen, who Steinbrenner yelled at for choosing heads instead of tails during a coin flip.
Sounds like a pretty bad guy, huh? Maybe not so much. For as much trouble as Steinbrenner caused in the baseball world, he did a lot of good in the real world. He donated millions to the hospitals, schools, athletic programs, and police department of Tampa. He supported the local opera and the Children’s Holiday Concert at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. He also honored Hillsborough County coaches each year at an annual dinner and dance. His Steinbrenner Family Foundation donated $700,000 to the Academy of Holy Names so an aquatic center could be built. He gave to many needy causes, saying “It’s nice to have money because of what you can do with it.”
So while some may have hated Steinbrenner as a major league baseball team owner, others saw the generosity of a man who tried to give back to his community. RIP George, you were definitely one of a kind.