George Steinbrenner: Hero, Villain, and Icon

Today, was a day where baseball's collection of great talents were to converge on Anaheim for another edition of the Mid-Summer classic. It was a day where we would see players like Derek Jeter, David Price, Umbaldo Jimenez play right across from Disneyland. Unfortunately, the day has becomea solemn one with the unfortunate passing of George Steinbrenner who died of a heart attack at the age of 80.

On Jan. 3, 1973, George Steinbrenner a shipping magnate from Ohio bought the Yankees for a then whopping 8.7 million dollars from the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBS) who were fed up with owning the team. In 2010 money, that would be 44.3 milion dollars. Today, the Yankees are worth over a billion dollars. He was innovatinve by having a network devoted to the Yankees and New Jersey Nets called the YES network. This network allows a team like the Yankees another revenue stream to make the pricey acquistions possible.

During his reign, he was a controversial figure yet as long as he was your owner, Steinbrenner would do almost anything to win. Steinbrenner paid a lot of money to get great talent. Sometimes, he would pay huge amounts that most people thought were absolutely insane. It stems from his father telling him that second place was just as bad as losing. This fueled his desire to make his team better and in business where he revived his father's shipping business before he was owner of the Yankees.

At times, it would work such as the signings of Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter. It led to two World Series victories. Other times, it would absolutely backfire as it was evident when the Yankees did not win a single World Series for the rest of the 1980s and mid-1990s nor make the playoffs. This era came at the expense of Don Mattingly who coincedentally played his whole career during that same period. Eventually, Yankee fans were fed up with Steinbrenner's hands-on approach because of the long drought. He was parodied on Seinfeld because of it along with firing seventeen managers, which led to the NY tabloids annointing him" The Boss."

In the mid-70s, he was nailed by the FBI for illegally giving campaign contributions to the Nixon presidency which forced him out of baseball for two years. He was banned from baseball for betting forty grand to a gambler to find dirt on his own player. This resulted in a liftetime ban but he would be back in just three years. Yet, the three year ban from baseball for the Yankees allowed it to develop their farm system, which gave rise to the Yankee dynasty of late 1990s and early 2000s. It gave rise to players such as Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera.

Yet, through his reign, the Yankees have won 7 World Series Championship and have become the envy of every baseball fan across America. In 2008, he paid close to $500 million for CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Mark Texiera which paid off with a World Series title just last year. In addition, he was vital to the new billion dollar Yankee Stadium which stand across the street from the old Yankee Stadium currently being torn down for a new recreational park.

He was larger than life and an icon not just in New York but for baseball itself. For better of for worse, George Steinbrenner changed free agency in baseball and set a precedent for future owners in different sports such as Mark Cuban, Ted Leonis, Daniel Snyder, Micky Arison, James Dolan and Mikahi Prokhorovs of the world. He said it best during his thirty-seven year reign as owner of the New York Yankees: "I haven't always done a good job, and I haven't always been successful - but I know that I have tried."