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Yankees: Who Remembers “The Boss” George Steinbrenner?

By Steve Contursi

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Almost single-handedly, George Steinbrenner returned the winning tradition of the New York Yankees to the Bronx. A larger than life character, he was indeed “The Boss”.

I suppose if you asked ten baseball writers or fans to name the most influential owner of a baseball franchise, most would say Branch Rickey who “broke the color line” when he brought Jackie Robinson to Brooklyn in 1947. But, the history teacher in me says that more often than not, the times make the man and not the reverse. So If it hadn’t been Rickey, someone else would have been right behind him to do the same thing

On the other hand, George Steinbrenner made the times he lived in by forging his own path as the owner of the New York Yankees, and in the process, changing baseball forever. Often a caricature of himself, always larger than life, bent on winning, always generous behind the scenes, he was in every respect……The Boss

And as with most of the characters in this series…….you either loved him or you hated him. More often than not that depended on whether or not you were a fan of the Yankees. On the surface, he was a man of bluster and charm all wrapped into one and he usually gave the impression that he didn’t really care what anyone thought about him because the only thing that mattered is bringing championships to New York. And money be damned; he was bent on doing it.

We won’t begin with the early life of George Steinbrenner. Suffice it to say, when he burst onto the baseball scene in 1976, he was a very wealthy man who had amassed a fortune in a shipbuilding business that would leave him with no financial worries for the remainder of his life.

The “Yankees” that he bought in 1976 were a shell of their time-honored tradition. Their last pennant traced back image more than a decade to 1965 when they were humiliated by the Dodgers suffering a four-game sweep in the World Series.

Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra were fading memories seen only on Old Timer’s Day at Yankee Stadium. There was no “face” of the team and the once notorious Bronx Bombers  now featured players like Bobby Murcer and Roy White.

This was the sort of challenge that Steinbrenner was born for. His first moves raised a few eyebrows but no one could foresee the future except for Steinbrenner himself who was determined to bring the Yankees back to where they belonged – at the top of everything. He started by signing

He started by signing Jim “Catfish” Hunter to a $3 million deal that included a $1 million signing bonus making him baseball’ first instant millionaire. Then, he stunned the baseball world again when he doubled down with the signing of Reggie Jackson to a (then) unheard of five-year deal for more than $3 million.

Yankee Stadium in many ways now resembled and was referred to as the “Bronx Zoo”. Jackson, who clearly was a match for anyone in the ego stratosphere, immediately took to the Steinbrenner way declaring himself to be “the straw that stirs the drink” on a Yankees team that would later be ridiculed for its dysfunctional theatrics. Jackson seemed to fit right in with the win now and win forever mantra taking shape.

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The narrative took an abrupt turn in 1977 as Reggie delivered by slamming three home runs on three successive pitches, each one longer than the previous one, to catapult the Yankees to a World Championship. Jackson would be crowned “Mr. October” and Steinbrenner was vindicated for his extravagant spending and more importantly…..the Yankees were back!

The Yankees would win again the following year but then they would not win again throughout the Eighties and it would be well into the next decade before they would climb to the top again. For Steinbrenner, it was not for the lack of trying though as he continued to spray money around baseball in the hope of catching lightning in a bottle again. One way was by signing the likes of Dave Winfield to a 10-year $23 million contract, making him the highest paid player in the game at the time.

These were tough and brutal years for Steinbrenner who often appeared flabbergasted by his inability to buy another championship. He would go through managers in an almost comical way hiring and firing Billy Martin five different times. Labeled a precocious, free spending and irresponsible owner by his own colleagues, he never flinched proceeding to spend money to make money.

Ironically, it would not be additional spending that would generate the next Yankee run to the top of the game again. Instead, it would be their much-reviled farm system that would produce what came to be known as the “Core Four” of Derek Jeter, Andy Pettite, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera. But that wouldn’t mean that The Boss wouldn’t ante up to signing the likes of A.J. Burnett (five years $82.5 million), Mark Teixeira (8 years $180 million, and of course Alex Rodriguez (ten years $275 million).

From 1996 to 2001, the Yankees ruled baseball. Once again, The Boss was there to bask in the glory of “The Run”. He was also lauded for his genius in the hiring of Joe Torre who often took the brunt of Steinbrenner’s infamous tirades deflecting them from his players to himself. Torre was also integral in molding the Core Four and nursing them along as they adapted to the Big Apple. To this end, Derek Jeter still refers to him as “Mr. Torre” and he means it.

It was also during this time that The Boss appeared to soften a bit allowing the human side of his nature to be seen. He would try, for instance, to resurrect the careers of two fallen New York heroes in Dwight “Doc” Gooden and Daryl Strawberry. Donations (usually anonymous) to charities increased exponentially with the Yankees success. And Steinbrenner himself seemed more relaxed and at ease. He could be seen crying along with Torre during a clubhouse World Series victory celebration.

He would live to see the opening of the new Yankee Stadium and another championship in 2009 before he died at the age of 80 in July of the following year. Accolades came pouring in from even his most severe critics who, by now had softened a bit themselves.

Next: 5 Greatest Catchers In New York Yankees History

Regardless, this much remains a truism about George Steinbrenner……… The team that he bought from CBS in 1976 for $10 million was now worth $1.6 billion (an astonishing 6,000 % return for investors)……..and he can single-handedly be credited with re-establishing the Yankees brand and tradition of winning. Not bad for a ship builder who knew nothing about baseball when he began his crusade………

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