Loved by Yankee fans for the turnaround he brought to the New York team, he was hated by the fans, rivals, players and coaches for the same reasons. Often a man to not let anything get in his way of his goals, a World Series Championship and making money, he would easily say farewell to Yankee legends, raise ticket prices to enormous heights, give a good blurb and hand out championship rings even easier.
Steinbrenner was known for making outlandish trades (The series "Seinfeld" once showed George Castanza, a Yankee employee, being traded to Tyson Chicken for a few fried birds), free agent spending sprees (The Yankees signed Alex Rodriguez to a 10 year contract for $260 million ), and penny pinching (Steinbrenner was banned for life from baseball (1990-1993) after paying Howie Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 for "dirt" on Dave Winfield). This outspokenness and spending made him one of sports most controversial figures.
And while he was never short with his pocket book to acquire players, he was always short with his staff and his temper. For his tenure at the Yankees from 1973-Present, only three other employees remained on the payroll for the entirety.
George Steinbrenner passed away today at age 80 of a heart attack at his home in Tampa. The Yankees will continue to be run by Hank and Hal, George's sons.
No comments:
Post a Comment