Goodbye Boss

Say what you want about the Yankees organization, the Evil Empire, etc. They are without a doubt the team that most people love and that most people hate. For some 37 odd years George Steinbrenner was the spearhead of the organization. However, due to diminishing health he has not had an active role in the organization the past several years. George passed away July 13 from a heart attack. If you own a TV, you have already seen plenty on the subject.

With Steinbrenner at the helm, the Yankees were never short of theatrics and constantly firing managers, most notably his feuds with Billy Martin in the 70's, but he really deserves to be respected for what he did for baseball, the Yankees and New York in general. The Boss bought the Yankees for something like $10 million in 1973 and turned them into a franchise that today is worth something like $1.5 billion. He won 7 World Series titles, a host of games, divisions, and league championships and helped revolutionize the money making machine with his own network television program by selling the TV rights and eventually having his own cable channel. He made money, won, and made baseball more competitive through free agency. Not all players he pursued, signed with the Yankees, some used the Yankees as a bargaining chip to get more money from other clubs because they weren't too crazy about playing for a 'hands-on' owner like Stenibrenner. All that aside, he did good for the organization and always wanted to win. Much like Al Davis of the Raiders, but slightly more successful. Extremely competitive, yet equally caring. He was a good figure for baseball.