He changed the face of pro sports no matter how disliked at times, as this man was an American success story as was his dad, a man who was a graduate of MIT then became a wealthy shipping magnate himself, ending as a sports ownership giant with his death from a massive heart attack today at 80 WHICH HE JUST TURNED ON THE 4TH.BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY.
During Steinbrenner's ownership from 1973 to his death, the longest in club history, the Yankees earned 11 pennants and 7 World Series titles.
It wasn't HIM in the episodes but a caricature of him, which was kind of overplayed, but wtf. Here's what he 'himself' thought about the Seinfeld caricature, and it's safe to say he 'relished' it to be succinct.
He could also be not such a fun man to work for as this piece from the NYT focused on today instead of next week or a couple days later.
I'll miss the man as a childhood New Yorker and the die hard sports fan at one time I was :(
He made the Yankees champions after some (unusual for them) years of Cub like futility and mediocrity to one of the greatest winning records ever assembled in any pro American sport or otherwise, and I'm sure baseball will never be the same without him and his 'antics' and love for the game.
I myself will remember him for his managerial hiring and firing follies, particularly his escapades with the both notorious and infamous Billy Martin with seemingly 'countless others' as he hired and fired Martin before HIS, Martin's untimely death drunk driving on Christmas eve, 1989, 3 different times, and each time they were still winners.
NEW YORK (AP)—George Steinbrenner, who rebuilt the New York Yankees into a sports empirewith a mix of bluster and big bucks that polarized fans all acrossAmerica, died Tuesday. He had just celebrated his 80th birthday July 4.Steinbrennerhad a heart attack, was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla.,and died at about 6:30 a.m, a person close to the owner told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not disclosed those details.Hisdeath on the day of the All-Star game was the second in three days torock the Yankees. Bob Sheppard, the team’s revered public address announcer from 1951-07, died Sunday at 99.Formore than 30 years and through seven World Series championships,Steinbrenner lived up to his billing as “the Boss,” a nickname he earned and clearly enjoyed as he ruled with an iron fist. While he lived in Tampa he was a staple on the front pages of New York newspapers.“He was an incredible and charitable man,” his family said in a statement. “He was avisionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again.”Steinbrenner’s mansion, on a leafy street in an older neighborhood of south Tampa, was quiet Tuesday morning. Private security guards milled around on the empty circular driveway inside the iron gates. A police officer took upa position outside the gates to turn away reporters and keep traffic moving along the narrow street. News vehicles lined the other side of the street.









