A sad day.  George was the only owner I ever knew.  His impact was so great, he changed so many things about the game, it’s hard to know where to begin. 

A sad day for his wife, Joan, Jennifer, Jessica, Hank and Hal (and their children).  First and foremost, they viewed him as a husband and father.  I’m sure the Roundtable extends our sympathies. 

All of these things and people are disappearing from my childhood.  Scooter (that was a tough one); the Stadium itself, Sheppard and now George – it’s a sign I suppose.

George was definitely a complicated man.  He had his good points and not so good points, like most of us I guess.  But, one of the things that I thought about  was that he ran the team like a crazy – fanatic, a fan if you will sometimes the way I would have run it, sometimes not so much. 

He always saw his primary function and bringing a winner to New York.  That was probably in response to taking over a once proud franchise, and he said New York deserves a winner.  That’s thinking like a fan.  He was driven to win – almost like a manager or a player, he was competitive and he demanded results. 

In the beginning, he did some very good things.

He embraced free agency, which we know now was the future of the game.  He apologized to the fans when the team didn’t win.  He took it upon himself to make arrangements when Munson died and made sure nobody forgot him.  He was a big booster of Old Timer’s Day brining back players forgotten and like Jim Bouton.  He tried to make things right by retiring Maris’ number, Elston’s number.  He was proud of the tradition of the franchise, the way a fan would be.  He seemed to legitimately hate rival teams just like a fan would.  He was generous to charities and to troubled players (managers and coaches).  But you know what?  He was also fun.  George was fun to listen to and also for his unpredictable nature.  Sometimes it was frustrating, but always entertaining. 

Frustrating sometimes wasn’t the word.  He changed managers all the time.  He just couldn’t leave things alone or give them a chance to work.  He was the guy who announced Billy would be managing next season even though Lemon was managing the team.  He would bring in free agents and then tire of them when they didn’t come through (Jackson and Winfield).  He fired Dick Howser after winning 103 games, even though it was Goose who couldn’t get Brett out.  Ron Davis took him to arbitration and won, and he traded him to the Twins for Roy Smalley which meant the end of Bucky Dent which also meant Rightetti had to go to the bullpen.  He hired and fired Billy Martin, not because it was the right move, but because it made for good back page.  He fired Yogi, after only 16 games and sent Clyde King to tell him.  He traded young players for aging, useless pieces and allowed the farm system and scouting departments to suffer.  He threatened to take the team to NJ if people didn’t come to the Bronx.  I mean, the man was crazy there for a while.  I remember waking up on April Fool’s Day when I was a teenager and listening to the news report saying :”George Steinbrenner has just sold the Yankees.”  I would cheer and think maybe we’ll get someone with some baseball sense and then be mad because I fell for the joke.  It was tough back then, I used to take so much nonsense by being a Yankee fan.  Met fans, Red Sox fans, I would visit my family in Michigan and they would laugh.  Those days it wasn’t easy.  He hit rock bottom with that Winfield scenario when he got suspended. And then, something happened.  He found the right formula, he learned to let go.  Gene and Buck built up the scouting department, hired the best latin american scout and restocked the farm system.  The team was allowed to have some continuity and breathe for a couple of years.  When he came back, there was a good foundation and to George’s credit, he let the team be for a while.   

It’s a testament to George that he once changed the game again with his cable deal with MSG and marketing deal with ADIDAS, then changed it again when he told them to get lost and that he would create his own network.  He was right.  He concentrated more on the business end of the operation.  Don’t get me wrong, I was worried and mad when he let Buck go, and brought in Torre, I thought: “Here we go again.”  But, George was right.  Torre was the right man for the job, at the right time.   The rest as they say is “history.” 

I guess it’s a shortcoming of mine, that I didn’t always understand what he was doing, while he was doing it.  With the benefit of perspective, you realize that he just wanted the team to win.  It’s unusual that a man so gifted in business wasn’t concerned with making money, he truly wanted to win, and had incredible drive to win.  A typical George comment after winning the world series was this.  New Yorkers deserve a winner.  This team is typical New York, people in this city don’t let anyone push them around, they fight for every cab, every subway car, every dollar they earn and that’s how this team is, it keeps fighting no matter what just like New Yorkers.  I never thought that was B.S., and to this day, I believe George was being genuine about that.  He loved those scrappy teams, that would fight to the end.  And you know what?  That is the essence of New York, how someone from Cleveland of all places, could have New York in his soul, but it’s true, Steinbrenner was a New Yorker through and through.  The great thing about him was that everyone could be part of the family – just by swearing your allegiance.  Every fan was just as much a Yankee as he was, it was fun we all could join in.  And that came from him.     

I guess I’m recounting all of this because I’m thankful.  Any relationship worth while has got to drive you a little nuts from time to time.  If it were all roses …. well that would be boring, and George was never boring.  I’m thankful, that he was so driven to win – in the understatement of all understatements, he certainly left the franchise in much better shape  than  he found it.  The fact that Red Sox fans call it the “Evil Empire” – that’s great.  I’m sure George loved that.  I’m also appreciative of the fact that he was always respectful and careful with Yankee tradition, which is what makes the Yankees so special.  It is fitting that there will be special tribute paid to him on Old Timer’s Day, because he loved that day and it is appropriate that he be memorialized on that day.   

I’ll never forget the day I met him.  September 1996, a big series with Baltimore, who was breathing down our necks.  American League President Gene Budig, called the game for rain the day before, even though it was a sellout and not a drop from the sky.  George ripped Dr. Budig in the papers: “Boss to AL: All Wet” read the headline of the sports section.  I went the following day and saw Steinbrenner signing autographs outside the Player’s Entrance of the Stadium.  He was guaranteeing a Division Title and World Series, and I walked up to him offered the sports section which he read and smiled.  I said to him in a kidding voice: “Are we going to get the game in tonight, Mr. Steinbrenner?”  He looked at me and replied: “Oh yes, I guarantee it!”  And he signed my paper.  That was pure George.  He loved that stuff.   I thought it was just about the funniest thing in the world. 

Thanks for being a great caretaker of the team I’ve loved all these years.  Thanks for signing my paper George.  Despite my devotion to democracy, I feel I must say:

Long live the Emperor!