R.I.P George Steinbrenner
Died this morning at 80, after suffering a massive heart attack. The Boss, a member of the Air Force, whether you liked him or not, was one of the most successful owners in all of sports. He bought the Yankees in 1973, for a mere 10 million dollars and put them back on top both on the playing field, and in the revenue stream.
As a Yankee fan I always get a kick out of other teams fans telling me how they buy everyone, yada yada. Got to admit how I loved just watching an NBA team do the same exact thing, with glee, and even referred to themselves as an Evil Empire. The question is and always will be when I hear such jealous nonsense, what are you supposed to do as an owner?? Is pocketing the revenue the right thing, and not put it back into the product? The Boss gave us Yankee fans a chance for a winning team every single year, once money became first and foremost, and for that, and not being greedy and richer than he already is in a time where tickets prices are obnoxious, I salute him....at least we saw a good show for the price..
Thanks George for the memories, the atittude, the controversy, Championships, and most of all renewing the rivarly with the Red Sox, hands down the best one in all of sports...:up:
Somewhere I believe even Red Sox fans, and Reggie Jackson are depressed.
Tags:
Page 1 of 2
-
NaboCane, adamprez2003, Jt0323 and 5 others like this.
-
I didn't know he was in the Air Force. He was smarter then I knew. :wink2:
He was forever immortalized thru the Seinfield episodes. I liked that he wasn't so greedy and spent the money to keep winning.
RIP George.adamprez2003 and finyank13 like this. -
This is crazy, 168,000?!?!?!
At the same time, the franchise he and a group of 15 limited partners purchased on Jan. 3, 1973 for $8.8 million from CBS (or $4.4 million less than the network had paid for it), skyrocketed in value to over a billion dollars, according to analysts, after Steinbrenner brokered unprecedented worldwide marketing deals for the Yankees and formed his own cable television network (YES) to broadcast the team's games. Steinbrenner's personal initial investment in the team was $168,000.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...rs_a_massive_heart_reports.html#ixzz0tZaOzFIRadamprez2003 likes this. -
One of the worst and then one of the best owners of all-time.
RIP. -
The current Steinbrenner isn't the one I recall, the one I remember fired Billy Martin at a press conference where he was introducing Billy Martin.
He was a colourful dude, I used to enjoy listening to him when things weren't going right for the Yankees.adamprez2003 likes this. -
Say what you will about King George but he wanted nothing more then to win. He was an opportunist to a degree but I think most people would be thrilled with an owner that was obsessed with winning. I know I would have been thrilled if he owned the Mets.
RIP.adamprez2003 and finyank13 like this. -
-
One statistic will NEVER be broken.
He fired 23 managers in 20 years.
Good thing he had never ending revenue at his fingertips or the Yanks would never have had a winning season in those 20. -
You gotta love this ehh Section??
He once called White Sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn "those two pumpkins" and "the Katzenjammer twins" (for which he was fined $5,000).Section126 and Boik14 like this. -
Ahhh, the never ending naivety of the competition.....its this ignorance of understanding who he hired to make decision on and off the field that exactly was behind why he was the head of 7 Championship.
Opponents will forever be blind to his true mastery of playing the game within the game especially in the FA era. I love it, the "buying Championships" line never gets old.:hi5:adamprez2003 and finyank13 like this. -
Gotta love a guy who has the balls to make changes....:lol: plus he got suspended like 4 times, and fined over 600K in the course of his career....besides the owner of your own favorite team, who else comes to mind as easy as Steinbenner who asked who the owner of a certain team is??
-
hell I could have been a Dolphins fans my entire life, and never have seen one..........wait....:shifty:
Seriously I would trade in all but one Yankees championship in for a Miami SB win right now....adamprez2003 and Boik14 like this. -
To even insinuate the two are the same is being disingenuous . The yankees are able to field an all-star team because they make more money than everyone else, The heat did it by being smarter than everyone else and being fiscally responsible in the years leading up to this FA period. The yankees don't know what the word fiscal management means when it comes to their player payroll.PhiNomina likes this.
-
It doesnt matter, he(Riles) bought players to win a championship period, they did the same exact thing, salary cap is irrelevant...There isnt a salary cap obviously, as you saw with money and LeBron, it isnt always about it, ever think people want to play for New York as well, the money is the cherry on top...
If there was a salary cap, no doubt Cashman would field a winning team, now that George is out of the way, and has been for a couple of years...
Spending 200 million on their payroll is a bilp to what they actually are worth year to year....it is all relative.. -
-
Considering Jeter and A-Rod alone make more money than some team's entire pay roll, i doubt the Yankees would be doing quite as well if there was a salary cap in place.
Again, the heat didn't "buy" anything, we have the same amount of money to work with as any other team in the league, we just used it more wisely.
Every year in baseball you know if a star player is leaving his team, the #1 favorite to get him is automatically the yankees, not because they are the best team necessarily, but ebcause they can just throw money at people. like last free-agency, the Yankees needed pitchers, they just went out and bought the two best FA pitchers available on top of their already enormous pay roll. What other team in the majors can do that than MAYBE the red sox?
A league where only two teams have a chance to become consistently competitive is a boring one. every other team in the majors has to go through rebuilding years, the yankees just buy everyone.PhiNomina likes this. -
Again the salary cap is irrelevant, means nothing in this case....they did well to trade away people, and clear cap space yes I agree....however they just went out and grabbed the 2 BEST free agents on the market, spending close to 250 million on them, and one of them the best in the game, if they win a championship, I'm sorry thats buying a championship....salary cap or no salary cap....I wish nothing but the best for the Heat, and hope they do well....but the double standard is funny...
-
-
-
-
too late, I am ignoring the retreaded ignorance....its George's day.
-
Never met the man, but i sure did respect what he did for my favorite baseball team. RIP George.
He surely was the player to benamed later in the Bob shepherd trade. Hopefully he doesnt fire billy again up there. -
Yup....plus boyhood friends till the end with Otto Graham, ran ABA championship Basketball team for Ohio. Worked under Woody Hayes as asst football coach, College Track Athlethe and Halfback, turned around family shipping business, dabbled in Broadway promotions, etc....amazing life really.:up:Boik14, adamprez2003, gunn34 and 1 other person like this.
-
-
Seriously, the books written about him tell many amazing stories.
-
-
-
Nah, was just a PR stunt....God told him, "George, in this relationship, you are Billy Martin":lol:Boik14, finyank13 and MikeHoncho like this.
-
The man loved his Calzones.
-
-
RIP George. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, etc and all the boys are patting you on the back right now
finyank13 likes this. -
Regarding the money/payroll thing, look the guy was any fan's dream owner. He actually cared about winning and he put money back into the team. It was a business to him but winning was his ultimate goal no matter what and for that I don't know how anyone can't respect him for that. Yeah he had his ups and downs and at times did some unethical things to get and stay on top but again he did it to win. Most of the owners today just care about the bottom line and filling their pockets with money and they wouldn't bend over backwards for the good or the franchise or fan base. Not George though.
It is also important to note that he was extremely giving in terms of charity work and dealing with kids.Boik14, finyank13 and adamprez2003 like this. -
-
Well, as for his life's work, the Yankees, new stadium (many forget he remodeled the old one back in the early 70's) and 7 Titles in 40 yrs or so, and he made the Yankees relevant again, back in the late 60's/early 70's the Amazing Mets were a much better franchise than the Yankees.
I hope he got a kick out of his portrayal on Seinfeld, but he was that sort of man, imho he may have lived in Ohio but he really became the sort of brash, hot headed, loud mouthed New Yawker that is the characterization.
As for the team itself, people should keep in mind that several Vet yankees have long term deals, A-Rod, Tex, in a MLB with no more HGH and guaranteed contract money, sooner or later they will have that albatross to bare.
On a lighter note, i'm surprised he did not have a massive heart attack after the BoSox came back in the 04 ACS..:D -
I remember after 9/11 he paid for staff to go there and hand out food, and water to the workers, donanted 1 million bucks, and some tarps for the boys....
As well lost in alot of this, the new Stadium, Steinbenner could have packed up 161st and River, and moved to Jersey or somewhere else more friendly to out of towners, but he understood that was where the Yankees should and always will play....He invested not only in the new Stadium itself, but surrounding ball parks, paths, and the area in general, with sidewalks, benches, etc...He created new jobs for the people of the South Bronx area, and as he got older you saw the humanitarian side of him....truly a good guy...
Page 1 of 2