RIP George
 

It has been reported that George Steinbrenner has passed away this morning after suffering a massive heart attack. The Boss was the greatest team owner ever and he will surely be missed by all Yankee fans. Rest in peace George.

RIP George, not a Yankee fan but you have to admire the way he ran the franchise and brought them back to preminence.

RIP George!!

Wow...he turned 80 last week. This is huge news, I guess this will change the tenor of tonight's All-Star game. He was a larger than life figure. RIP George.

Truly a sad day for baseball, especially for Yankee fans like me.

RIP George, thanks for some great memories.

My condolences to his family.

My prayers are with the loved ones he left behind.

2 Corinthians 5:8

Wow - first Sheppard, now the Boss. Sad sad day.

My prayers and condolences to his friends and family.

Kind of a shocker...I had seen his remarks about Bob Sheppard just a few days ago. He'll go down as one of the great characters of baseball.

RIP George.

George did more to drive up salaries in baseball other than Marvin Miller.

I don't have to admire the way he ran the Yankees, but I am sorry to hear that he has died.

2 huge losses for the yankees organization this week...hopefully there won't be a third. bastardised and hated while living by many...I'm sure George will be praised and lauded in death...like michael jackson! MY condolences to the family and the yankees organization.

Rest in peace George
 

You were a great man in a great sport. You accomplished some great things with a great team. My condolances to the Stienbrenner family and all Yankee fans everywhere.:(

Remember George
 

We felt a deep sense of sadness with the loss of "voice of God" and
that of the most important sports owner in American History.

For more than 50 years and a 1000 + Yankee home games, the sounds of Bob Shepard's voice echoed though baseball's greatest stadium. Our appreciation for crisp, clear voice will always linger our mind.

Mr. Steinbrenner was an owner who truly understood the importance of winning, and that greatness is paramount. You always knew who the boss. Whilst he had his flaws, he brought the greatest sports team history back to life and back to the top.

We only met Mr. Steinbrenner twice, once with Barry Halper (who owned 2% of the Yankees) and once at a dinner with his date Barbara Walters. We found him to be smart, direct and a true fan.

We will you Bob and George


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List

Billy's story
 

I heard Billy Martin Jr. on radio this morning telling a story which I thought bore repeating. Steinbrenner had a secretary who constantly messed up his sandwich orders at lunch. George told her he didn't want mayonaisse on his sandwiches but she kept forgetting. The 3rd time it happened, he fired her. One of his employees told him that the only reason she was working was because she was trying to make money and pay her son's college tuition, that she didn't know what she was going to do.
Steinbrenner invited the boy to lunch and spoke with him about it. He didn't rehire the secretary because of what he felt was her inpetitude but sent a check to the college and paid for the last 3 years of the boy's tuition.
The sandwich story made the rounds years ago but now we get to hear the "rest of the story," as Paul Harvey used to say. Steinbrenner could be a real jerk but he also had a huge heart.

A Tough Man
 

In my former life as a Sports Editor for 24 years, I got a chance to be around George Steinbrenner several times, mostly at spring training. A very tough man. From what I experienced, very tough on people. But there is no discounting that he was a winner. And I like hearing stories about his softer side.

I thought George ate calzones for lunch?

I read a blurb from a local writer here in the bay area about Steinbrenner who was the only one to actually send a check to MLB for their part of revenue sharing..(others wired the money) and he always attached a note to it that says..something to the affect of "this is illegal and outrageous"

You have to hand it to him..he brought the Yankees back from the dead and as much as we hate the "evil empire" baseball isn't the same unless we are saying "those damn Yankees!" every season...

GS
 

Rest in peace, George.
my condolences to family and friends,

barry

Thank you for sharing that, Bruce. Your story and insight give the rest of us a glimpse of the side of George Steinbrenner that few got to see.

I know that today isn't the time for it, given the sadness that you and the rest of the Yankee family are feeling, but perhaps in the coming days you can tell about that time you met Hal Chase, and his date, Mary Pickford.

Please pass along the board's condolences to the Steinbrenner family.

Poor Rob
 

Dear Rob D


Whilst your attempts at humor are amusing. We would certainly be willing to find identify others at the dinner. The restaurant was Jim McMullen's in Manhattan's Upper East- a celebrity hang out in the 1980;s- way above your
financial means and honkey presence.

If the other guests don't verify our story, we will send you
$10,000 and if they do, you will send us $10,000.

Since we do not trust you, or your evil perverted mind, we can put the money in escrow...and then we can let the whole Board know what a waste of air you are.

Keep firing arrows Rob, we will happy to carpet bomb you - nothing like watching hot air go up in smoke.


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want

Once again, those deft jabs hit their mark. When will I learn? Hard to say. I wasn't fortunate enough to attend Vassar.

(Psst, Bruce, it appears that when you're flustered your punctuation, grammar and sentence structure suffer even more than usual. Maybe an Ivy League-educated proofreader could help?)

Rob,

I could be mistaken, but didn't you trade in your honkey presence for something with a little better mileage?

Deepest sympathies.

Poor Rob
 

Rob

In this case, we were not worried about form or grammar.

We simply are tired of your childlike comments on everything.

So comment all you want. But let's a wager on your accusations.
In that way you will make it worth our time (our standard billing rate
is $500 per hour)

Do have a nice evening.
Whilst you are writing away, we are working on deals for baseball
cards and for two investment banking clients.

Cheers


Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List

What a man. When I first heard I thought about a multitude of Steinbrenner activities that I thought unfortunate... but then I can take pause, consider that Mr. Berra forgave him and considered him a great man, I can reflect upon Mr. Steinbrenner's passion for the national pastime, and I can see that he's deserving of respect and honor. He did quite a bit of good out there, somewhat under the radar. One dynamic fellow... I wish his family well as they accept his loss, and as they celebrate his life.

Bruce, I sincerely mean this: It's good to hear you've found work.

And congratulations in advance on the 137 utra-rare, high-grade type cards you've been able to acquire in the past few hours, solely the result of collectors reading this thread.

IF there is an afterlife, I think a good greeting from Billy to George would have to be "You've been fired!" followed up by a couple of drinks overlooking the A.S. game.

Rob, Bruce--take this petty stuff off the board. It has no place here, especially in a thread like this.

Agreed. My apologies to the Steinbrenner family.

When I think of Steinbrenner, I think of the ads in the back of late 1970's-early 1980's Baseball Digests, selling T-shirts that exclaimed "I Love NY. Its the Yankees I Hate"

Seems only fitting someone would bring up money in a thread about George. But seriously, my friend works in PR and I can't think of a more annoying few minutes of my day than when I'm eating lunch with him and he's telling me how so and so like's their steak, or if I'm drinking a coke about how much so and so loves coke. Gets old fast. I get it, you met a celebrity.

Did anyone catch the clip on ESPN of Yogi discussing the way George fired him in 85? It's very moving. Toward the end of the clip, Yogi broke down and was hard to hold back his emotions. Sad day for baseball even if you are not a Yankees fan.

A sad time indeed for Yankee fans and all of baseball with both Sheppard and Steinbrenner passing. Best wishes to family and friends as they deal with their loss. Love George or hate him, you have to appreciate what he accomplished. I too like hearing about the softer side of the Boss.

I loathed the man until a few years ago when I visited some friends in the Tampa area. I dare you to find a school, hospital, clinic, or university in the vicinity that doesn't have something named after or donated by him. Last year I read a USA Today article detailing his dedication and monetary donations to the families of Police Officers and Firefighters in the region and greater NY. (Baseball politics aside, and least we forget baseball is not a game but a business) Just a great guy.


R.I.P. Boss

George Was A Good Guy...
 

...you just didn't want to work for him (or maybe be a family member).

George attended the same college I did (Williams) and I met him once in Williamstown. In that environment he was just as approachable and friendly as any other alumnus.

I'll add to the positive stories that tbob and Steve related. A female classmate of mine was working in the New York area after graduation and was going to Florida to meet family for the Christmas holiday. Through some unfortunate circumstances she missed her flight, which happened to be last flight out for the evening. George was at the same airport and came upon her crying. After starting a conversation with her, when he found out she, too, was a Williams alum, George took her to Florida on his jet.

George had some good qualities. He just cared (some would argue he cared too much) about winning.

I think it's well documented that the man was hard to work for, but lets face it, there are tons of people in every day jobs that are hard to work for...even impossible to work for and they never show a softer side. If I know nothing else about the man, the fact that he was so generous with charitable contributions, and that he always took care of former employees and their families, is enough for me to know he was a good guy.
Rest in Peace George.

As a Sox fan I'll miss him. If he hadn't built the Yankees into the team they are, I don't think the Sox would be the same team. And the rivalry wouldn't be what it is.

The club I'm in had a former Yankee as a speaker, and he had many interesting things to say about him. One was that one of the first things he checked every day was the attendance figures for the Mets. If they were outdrawing the Yankees it was almost guaranteed that he'd say something a bit out of line about a player. But that it was always a player who was secure enough to handle it or a guy that would respond well. (Like Winfield being Mr May)
The second was that for many players he was privately a really great guy. This player had some family thing going on, I think it was a child being born and was summoned to the office. he was expecting to be grilled about how long he expected to be out, but instead was told to take as much time as he needed and to come back when he was ready.

Tough business man, but a guy who knew how to make the team a success both on field and for profit. And probably way nicer than he seemed publicly.

Steve B

When I think of him it reminds me of the few owners who ruined baseball by thier greedy spending.

Your statement is oxymoronic. What is "greedy spending"?


I think baseball is being ruined by the greedy owners who won't spend to make their teams competitive.

GREEDY that they have to have all the great players so they spend a fortune to get them. The problem is baseball lets them. I don't blame George, he had the money so he used it. But only to make more money. He was a great business man, but a stinker. He did great for the Yankees but did nothing for baseball.

First of all, he was the owner of the NY Yankees, NOT the Commissioner of MLB. It was his fiduciary responsibility to improve the Yankees. It wasn't his job to "do" anything for baseball. (But, as I'll mention later, I disagree with that statement anyway. He was great for baseball.)

Secondly, he could have made much more money than he did by not spending it on players. Are you aware that the Yankees are one of the MLB teams that usually loses money in their annual P&L? He simply took the Revenue available to him (Tickets, Parking, Concessions, TV money, etc.) and plowed it back into HIS TEAM!

Thirdly, he didn't have to have all the "great players," but he did have a deep seated desire to win. Doing so involves spending money, and taking chances on the better players. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But he never accepted complacency. He ate the bad contracts and moved on to the next one. The owners you should be pissed about (too many to list, but use Tom Hicks of Texas and the Wrigley Corp as examples) are the ones who don't care if they win. When the Marlins won the World Series in 2003, the Yankees paid about $11 million in Luxury Tax. Several million of that went to the Florida Marlins. What did they do with it? They flew ALL of their front office staff and families to NYC for the games, put them up in The Plaza, partied for days, won the World Series, went home, pleaded poverty, and broke up the team. They didn't re-sign a player. They didn't go get a free agent to help.

Lastly, and I don't understand people who don't get this one, since the revenue is there (estimated at over $600 million to the Yankees last year) If George doesn't give it to the players, who should it go to?


During Steinbrenner's time with the Yankees, they have been outstanding. And they have been awful. He never tolerated awful. Forcing them to be good again has been very good for baseball. The Red Sox got good in the last 10 years because they finally got an owner that really wanted to win. That rivalry is GREAT for baseball.

I grew up hating the Yankees and Steinbrenner; however, I was always envious of the team for having him as an owner. The man wanted to win more than any owner in professional sports and if you were a Yankee fan you reaped the benefits of that singular mindset.

Not as much as the Cavs owner claims he wants to win. :D:D:D

It should go to George and the other Yankee owners, they are the ones who took the risk and they should reap the rewards. Because George chooses to spend his money on players doesn't mean it is a prudent business decision for other owners.

Condolences to his family; his baseball field at Williams College is beautiful.

Took the risk?

He invested $160,000 of his own money.

I am sorry David but I fail to see your point, could you please clarify it?

Well JIM BV, I can see your a Yankee fan. Never said he couldn't invest, nor did I say he was Comish. Said he was a greedy pig, and he was. Sick of hearing how much he did for baseball. Sorry but he did nothing. He made the Yankees a winner by spending a fortune that he made being in the biggest sports market in the world, NY. Don't lay that crap on me that the Yankees don't make any money. That is a complete joke.

How was he a greedy pig? You're making it seems like all baseball owners want to win a World Series. They all have the money, otherwise they wouldn't own a baseball team. But a lot of owners aren't fans, they're businessmen. So they don't want to spend it. You're not considering the fact that a lot of owners or owners groups don't care. That's not George's fault. He wanted to win. I don't think anyone ever doubted George was a fan, which is what made him such a great owner.