OT: George Steinbrenner has died
Just came across Sportscenter. Had a massive heart attack.
EDIT:
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16007/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=fOWnhUTJ
Not many links out there right now.
To me he was the Mike Illitch of baseball. The only people who liked him were Yankee fans. He did what he had to do to win. RIP Mr Steinbrenner
whose older brother was one of Steinbrenner's initial partners when he bought the team for...get this...$10 million. How many players on the Yankee roster make more than $10 million a year? I met the brother once and he said there was nothing as limited as being a limited partner of Steinbrenner's.
I know two people I grew up with who worked for the Yankees while George was still running things. They said all the employees lived in constant fear of being fired if something went wrong and that he ruled like a dictator.
On some level George's antics were likely the precursor to guys like Mark Cuban and other owners who, rather than just owning the team, have somehow felt the need to be in the spotlight themselves. I am not sure that has made sports better.
Wow. That's almost as big a name as possible in the sports world. I'll still remember him best from his fake cameo role in Seinfeld. Terrible news...
Didn't see that coming. I'm not sure if he was still running the Yanks with an iron fist like he used to, or if he had deferred a lot of control to some of his subordinates, but it'll be interesting to see if they hold th line, or if there's a change in mentality in New York.
Godspeed, Mr. Steinbrenner.
His two sons have been running the Yankees for a few years now.
but I honestly don't pay a ton of attention to the management of ball clubs not named the Detroit Tigers.
The younger son Hal runs the show. Hank(Fredo) may have a title but doesn't wield any power. He talks like he does but doesn't. George gave Hal the reins and the other owners ok'd it knowing it would be him.
You're right...Hal Steinbrenner.
Sad news. Does anyone more familiar with the situation know if his health was ailing, or if this was expected at all? He's owned the Yankees for almost 40 years, he had to be getting up there in age.
He was 80.
Also recently had a stroke.
with Alzheimer's for the past few years. Plus a stroke. He was in decline for 5 years at least.
But, I still get mad with what happened with the Henson situation
Thats nice and all, but please don't vent about a guy at his own funeral.
The post would have been much longer if I had.
He had not been well for quite a while and had handed over most of the operation to his sons. In fact they are generally credited with the Yankees' return to stability, and winning, the last few years. However there was no indication anything like this was coming.
It is a landmark passing - he certainly had his faults and detractors but in many ways was ahead of his time, and his commitment to winning was undeniable.
I would have loved him when he tried to buy the Indians, but the people in charge of the sale wouldn't sell to him. Just one more in a long line of great Cleveland sports decisions.
He forgot to write his owner application in Comic Sans. Therefore, he was forced to buy a New York team where they conduct business in such silly fonts as Times New Roman.
I disagreed with about 5% of the letter, and loved the rest of it. It made me feel good to know that our owner cares as much as we do, that he had the same feelings we had. I love that the Cavs owner is the polar opposite of Larry Dolan, who basically handed the Indians GM a monetary figure and told him to make sure the team hits it.
to put together a baseball team, that's for sure. RIP.
Billy Martin has just been fired, again.
and most of us did both, George Steinbrenner brought passion and commitment to the Yankees and baseball.
You didn't have to agree with his methods, but you had to admire his efforts and results.
Godspeed George.
I didnt love or hate him, but I do begrudge the system that made him such a good owner. No salary cap is a major failure of baseball. As a Cardinals fan I'm constantly worried that Pujols is leaving because the Yankees are going to throw 50 million a year at him and see if it sticks. I know they have Texeira already but one of those two can DH.
Nuff said.
I don't blame Steinbrenner for trying to win, I blame the other owners for not putting in a real commissioner and a system to promote competitive balance. I think the salary caps are directly responsible for the NBA and NFL being as competitive as they are.
Either the Spurs or the Lakers have won the Western Conference 11 of the last 12 years. Either the Spurs or the Lakers have won the NBA Finals 9 of the last 12 years. The top three free agents in this offseason all just decided to go play for the same team.
How has the salary cap made the NBA more competitive again?
You can't deny that the NFL is more competitive due to the salary cap. There have been new teams in the Super Bowl almost every year. Historically low-revenue teams like the Saints and Colts would be very unlikely to have that kind of success if the NFL had baseball's anything-goes non-system.
Teams from Boston and New York have won 5 of the last 20 Super Bowls, despite the very hard salary cap in the NFL (those cities have won 7 World Series in that time). They've won 4 of the last 10 Super Bowls (same as in baseball). The Florida Marlins have won two World Series and the Rays just got to the World Series. Big market teams like the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, and Mets have had no recent championship success, with teams in Cincinnati, Oakland, Toronto, Minnesota, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Anaheim all winning in the interim. The Saints and Colts sell-out every home game and the NFL has a massive revenue sharing plan in place, aside from their salary cap, to level the playing field.
All a salary cap does is direct money away from the players and to those owners who, unlike Steinbrenner, don't really give a shit about winning if it means having to invest some cash in their team.
At least now he can have all the calzones he wants.
As a kid and young adult in the 80's and 90's George drove me mad with his interference in the baseball operations. Every Yankee fan symathized with that famous George Castanza rant where he does the opposite of his instincts episode. At the same time I still appreciated his belief that if you put your money into the product then the fans will come. The team got off the mat in the early 90's when he was banned from interfering by the league. that's when Gene Michael, Bob Watson and Buck Showalter built the core of the dynasty by smart trades(Tino, O'Neill, etc) and keeping kids that George would have been impatient with(Petitte, Jeter, Rivera, Posada, etc.). We were able to withstand his less frequent interference after that when he came back. He did make 1 very smart move 3 years ago when he named his youngest and more level headed son Hal the new head of the team. Hal's older brother Hank is a irrational as his dad but not nearly as intelligent which makes him dangerous. Thankfully he was passed over and relegated to the team office in Florida. We wouldn't be the machine we are now without going through all the bullsh*t George put us through in the past so I guess it was worth it. I appreciate the end result he gave us.
I know he was a villian in a lot of the baseball world, but I can look at him with nothing but respect. He made his team profitable, and reinvested the money into the product on the field. I think there are plenty of owners in pro sports who could learn from his model.
Agreed, he was the best kind of villain.
I'll never be happy about the Yankees winning a championship, but it seems somehow appropriate that Steinbrenner passed with them the defending world champions.
Every year the Red Sox do a telethon fund raiser for the Jimmy Fund (pediatric cancer research) and every year Georgie would call and make his donation without any fanfare. I always respected him a great deal for that.
He represented pretty much everything I hate, both on and off the field. But he did baseball a great service by restoring it's marquee franchise (oh, how it hurts to type this). He bought the Yankees from CBS and made the relevant almost immediately. (ow) Baseball is better (ow, ow) and more interesting when they Yankees are good (ow ow ow ow).
Keith Olbermann (a huuuge Yankees fan) used to do a segment on Dan Patrick's show everyday. About two years ago, he bumped into Steinbrenner in the boxes at the old yankee stadium and said it was evident that GS was in pretty steep decline (dementia). This was around the time that control ended up getting shifted to Hank Steinbrenner.
aside from collecting and paying tallent, Illitch is generally seen in a much more positive light than GS (RIP) was.
I think the comparison is more like, Illitch used to be the Steinbrenner of Hockey. Because He spent the most freely in that sport. Kind of like Steinbrenner did in Baseball.
Exactly. Illitch would spend the money and everyone who wasn't a Wings fan hates the organization.
Yet unlike in baseball where the Yankees spend almost a 1/4 of a billion on team payroll and all other teams are no where near that number. When there wasn't a cap in the NHL the Red WIngs were not the only team spending big. Toronto spent big, St. Louis spent big,Colorado spent big, Montreal spent big,Dallas spent big,Philly spent big, And surprise the New York Rangers spent the MOST!
Other than both teams winning alot over the last 20 years the Yankees/Red WIngs comparison is bullshit. And it's a lame attempt for all you jealous haters out there to try and to diminish what the Red Wings front office accomplised through their drafts and equal trades i.e former 1st rd pick Keith Primeau for Brendan Shanahan. Sorry haters the Red Wings were not the only big fish in the pond.
I thought Mike Ilitch was the Ilitch of baseball?
Constanza is in the building!
I am curious as to who takes over...
May George R.I.P.
As much as I hate the Yankees, all you have to do is watch the video of Bud Selig handing Steinbrenner the 2000 world series trophy, and the video of Steinbrenner during the 2008 All-Star Game, and you come to respect his love of the game, his respect of the game, and his appreciation for the moment.
The guy loved his team, loved his players, loved his fans, and was far more charitable than any of us will ever know (because he never wanted any sort of recognition for his charitable donations).
RIP George Steinbrenner III
It's amazing how people suddenly become reverential figures after they die. Another Buckeye bites the dust. Good riddance.
Hmmmm...yeah, people honoring the dead, what a bunch of cocks.