George Steinbrenner Dead At 80

[Mr Walker]

George Steinbrenner - the legendary owner of the New York Yankees - has died, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Steinbrenner died at about 6:30 a.m. ET Tuesday after suffering a massive heart attack in Tampa, Florida.

Steinbrenner turned 80 on July 4th.

During Steinbrenner's ownership, the Yankees have won 11 pennants and seven World Series.

Story developing...

[Mr Walker]

I liked him on Seinfeld.

[Nickdfresh]

Wow...

Love him or hate him, he's an icon...

Yep, the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/sports/baseball/14steinbrenner.html) has erased all doubts...

RIP George...

[sadaist]

I liked him on Seinfeld.


LOL. Was gonna say the same thing. They did the most excellent job with his character. I hope he got a chance to watch those episodes & enjoy them.

I wonder how this will play out for the Yankees over the next decade. Will they continue to be the highest paid team? The last 20 years they have basically fielded an All-Star team. It's no wonder they won so many championships.

He made hating the Yankees fun. No one cares if you hate a team that sucks every year. If that were the case, I'd hate the Royals. (They still are a team, right?) Hating the Yankees was because of the money they spent on buying the best players and winning so much. That was all George.

For some reason, I feel like his sons will end up selling out the team in the next several years.

[Guitar Shark]

LOL. Was gonna say the same thing. They did the most excellent job with his character. I hope he got a chance to watch those episodes & enjoy them.


Little known fact: Steinbrenner personally acted in several scenes on Seinfeld, but they were later edited out after he complained about the plot. Larry David ended up doing the voices for Steinbrenner. Supposedly, Steinbrenner was always a fan of the show.

RIP George.

[Hardrock69]

Wow.

Gonna be interesting to see who takes over, and what happens as a result.

RIP George.

[Guitar Shark]

Wow.

Gonna be interesting to see who takes over, and what happens as a result.


His sons have basically been running the team for the last couple of years.

[Hardrock69]

Ahh. Shows you how much I have been paying attention to the management of the team, lol.

[fryingdutchman]

One of those figures in pro sports that you love to hate.

But you can't deny his impact on baseball. He had that "mad scientist" persona down pat.

I wonder if he'll try to fire Billy Martin again and have him thrown out of heaven....

[Bob_R]

RIP George

July 13, 2010
YANKEES PRINCIPAL OWNER / CHAIRPERSON
GEORGE M. STEINBRENNER III PASSES AWAY
It is with profound sadness that the family of George M. Steinbrenner III announces his passing. He passed away this morning in Tampa, Fla., at age 80.

"He was an incredible and charitable man. First and foremost he was devoted to his entire family - his beloved wife, Joan; his sisters, Susan Norpell and Judy Kamm, his children, Hank, Jennifer, Jessica and Hal; and all of his grandchildren."

"He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again."

At the time of his passing, Mr. Steinbrenner was celebrating his 37th anniversary as Principal Owner of the New York Yankees in 2010. Under his leadership, the Yankees became the leading sports franchise and the most highly recognized sports brand in the world.

On January 3, 1973, a group of businessmen formed and led by Mr. Steinbrenner purchased the New York Yankees from CBS for a net price of $8.7 million. It took just five years for his aggressive leadership to turn the organization back into World Champions. In the 37 years he was Principal Owner of the club, the Yankees posted a Major League-best .566 winning percentage (3,364-2,583-3 record) while winning 11 American League pennants and seven World Championships (also the most in the Majors).

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Easy to hate him, but as I've learned in my highly jaded ways over the years, I hate MLB's system more than I hate the Yankees....

[POJO_Risin]

You have to wonder what would have happened had he not been banned from baseball for life in 1990. The Yankees were deplorable for most of the 80's. When he was banned, Gene Michael was put in charge, and went to work. Prospects such as Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and Derek Jeter were allowed to develope. Paul O’Neill, Wade Boggs, Jimmy Key, David Cone, and John Wetteland were signed. Michael wouldn't make it to the world series run, but you could make a case that the most recent great Yankees teams were developed because Steiney was in the heiney.

He was a character...that is for sure, and he did change baseball...some say for the better...some say the opposite.

Either way, he was a larger than life character in a larger than life scenario.

He wanted to buy the Indians...but had to settle for the Yankees. I wonder how different things could be...

[Guitar Shark]

Hmm... I didn't know some of that. Interesting stuff.

[Igosplut]

.

For some reason, I feel like his sons will end up selling out the team in the next several years.

Hank and Hal have been running the day to day operations for a few years now, but George still had final say. He smacked Hank down a few times for statements he made, stuff that was off color. But if they have total control I can see quite a change as neither seem to have a passion for the game/team like George did....

[Igosplut]

Hmm... I didn't know some of that. Interesting stuff.

He was banned for a few years for something to do with Nixon I believe...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

He was banned for a few years for something to do with Nixon I believe...

Nope....

On July 30, 1990, Commissioner Fay Vincent banned Steinbrenner from baseball for life after he paid Howie Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 for "dirt" after Winfield sued him for failing to pay his foundation the $300,000[16] guaranteed in his contract. Winfield later entered the Hall of Fame as a San Diego Padre.

[Igosplut]

Nope....

On July 30, 1990, Commissioner Fay Vincent banned Steinbrenner from baseball for life after he paid Howie Spira, a small-time gambler, $40,000 for "dirt" after Winfield sued him for failing to pay his foundation the $300,000[16] guaranteed in his contract. Winfield later entered the Hall of Fame as a San Diego Padre.

Huh, I thought it was some money deal/donation to Nixon. Shows how good MY memory can be at times....

[Igosplut]

Huh, I thought it was some money deal/donation to Nixon. Shows how good MY memory can be at times....

This was what I remembered about George. I thought I remembered something about Nixon......

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0713101steinbrenner1.html?link=rssfeed