George Steinbrenner bought the Yankees in 1973, when I was 5 years old, for $8.8 million bux. He purchased the team with some other cutting edge investors that went on to become legendary - Lester Crown, John DeLorean and Nelson Bunker Hunt. Over the years he bought them out. They may be legendary investors, but they probably didn’t have the same desire to build a world class organization that George had. Not an ounce of their motivation contributed to the greatest sports memories I have in my life. I think George Steinbrenner wrote the script for some of them on his path to becoming the most prominent owner in sports.
When he took over the Yankees it had been 11 years since their last championship in 1962 and the pressure was on from day one - the pressure that Steinbrenner put on himself. One of his first quotes as owner of the team was about not being involved in day to day operations. Once he was served his first loss, that changed abruptly. With a history of success in business and coaching, loss in any form was not on this Boss’s agenda. What a tremendous quality that turned out to be in this day and age.
Steinbrenner led from the front. He handed down executive decisions like an overseer and the purpose was to invoke a reaction and a result. He may have risen to the challenge of taking over the most successful franchise in sports like no other owner in history, certainly not up until that time. No other franchise has come close to replicating this level of leadership change over that period of time. But forget the 17 managerial changes, look past the three ring circus with Billy Martin, and the two suspensions from the Major League Baseball - to George, changes were necessary until winning was achieved. It’s pretty amazing that the Yankees won championships shortly after the Boss returned from each of his suspensions.
The Yankees franchise had already won more World Series than any other team in Major League Baseball, a total of 20, but there was a glaring problem when George took over. Like they are today, the Yankees were expected to perform like those championship teams of yester-year that included the Cooperstown legends of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris and they hadn’t. The only one around was a slight yet sturdy, fifty year old Yogi Berra. The outlook was bleak for the team as it was for New York.
In 1972 the New York City Fire department responded to 250,000 emergency calls – thrice that of the London Fire Brigade. In 1976 the city of New York lived through horrific crime rates, riots, and a serial killer named “the Son of Sam” that shot people dead in their car – and scared the crap out of me at the age of 8 for the entirety of one year which happened to be the summer after JAWS. The ESPN movie “the Bronx is Burning” offers a wildly accurate tribute to that era, the footage of a burning building as back drop to the white columns of the stadium. That’s what George Steinbrenner bought into when he bought the Yankees.
“Owning the New York Yankees is like owning the Mona Lisa.”
In 1972, before the Steinbrenner purchase, the Yankees finished 3 games over .500, fourth place in the American League East. Their lineup included a few Bronx Bombers who will be remembered forever – Thurman Munson, Roy White, Bobby Murcer, Sparky Lyle, and Mel Stottlemyre. That team also included many who have already been forgotten. There was Ron Blomberg at first base, Horace Clarke at second base, Celerino Sanchez at third, and their current trainer, Gene Michael, at short stop. I promise you there were no all stars among them and their four batting averages didn’t add up to the whole number one. At that point George was a shipping mogul from Cleveland but he had competitive advantage. Come hell or high water, he was going to master the game of baseball and start bringing championships back to the Bronx. Well, the truth is he may not have learned anything about baseball. He learned to carry out his mandate to WIN.
"When you put the pinstripes on you're not just putting a baseball uniform on. You're wearing tradition, and you're wearing pride and you're gonna wear it the right way."
By his 3rd season at the helm, George afforded the Yankees a 4 game sweep the wrong way, courtesy of the Cincinnati Reds’ “Big Red Machine” in ’76 World Series. Having finally gotten to the championship round, George expected it to be easy to get back in 1977, and that’s exactly how the dice rolled. Only a year later, George assembled a team of Yankees whose roster I will remember for the rest of my life. My childhood hero - Thurman Munson – was now catching for Catfish Hunter, Mike Torrez, and a young Louisiana Lightening. Graig Nettles led the team with *37 home runs (*no steroids) and seemed to stop everything to the left of the short stop with a diving stab of his glove. Chris Chambliss anchored the other corner with confidence. Willie Randolph was as automatic as the sunrise at second base. Mickey Rivers would occupy all of center field, do his old man limp to the plate, and then break land speed records around the bases. Reggie Jackson, the infamous Straw That Stirred the Drink, Mr October, would inspire the team offensively, and offend the team personally. Catfish Hunter was the highest paid player that year. He made $600,000 thanks to George’s lavish free agency offer. Rookie Ron Guidry made $37,000. Ace reliever Sparky Lyle tried to quit this team more than once and if you can get a hold of a copy, read Sparky’s book entitled “THE BRONX ZOO” to hear all the inside color.
By 1977 George mixed this cocktail of personalities and athletes, led them with fireplug manager in Billy Martin, folded his arms, and like Adrian in Rocky II, demanded that they “WIN!” For the first time in my life I learned how completely awesome it is when your team wins it all. Thanks for that George.
I sat in front of our Zenith television, with my finger hole glove on, and watched the Yankees beat the Dodgers in the World Series that year. I watched in unadulterated little leaguer SHOCK as Reggie Jackson hit 3 consecutive home runs on 3 consecutive pitches and I bounced off my couch and nearly hit the ceiling on the last one. Fast forward a year and the Boss and his Yankees put up 2 World Series victories in a row and I was hooked for life. As a fan, George began putting me in the best position I could be in to be astonished. There was so much more to come but I had no idea because it would be a while.
Finally in the mid-90’s – the five home grown hero’s were born, the Joe Torre era began, and five more championships inevitably followed. Few recall the extreme ups and downs during those years and as much as Steinbrenner enraged the sports community accusing him of trying to buy championships, he proved that money couldn’t overcome the randomness of baseball events. You can have a $200M payroll and still not make the playoffs. Without chemistry, you have still have nothing. A-rod slaps a glove, Dave Roberts steals a base, Johnny Damon hits a granny and the next thing you know you and your big payroll just ended a century long curse by snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Even in losing championships came my fondest memories in all of sports. At least the ones I keep nearest to my heart. I spent two consecutive nights in the House that Ruth Built, only a few weeks after the attack on the World Trade Center, that helped define that expectation to win that Steinbrenner built into his organization and into its fans. That expectation to win helped create an atmosphere in the Bronx tense enough to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. To this day I’m waiting for a Korean Barbeque to name a meal after my personal favorite MLB Closer – the Byung-Hun Kim.
Back in 2001, I was pissed I couldn’t be there to witness President George Bush throwing the ball out in Game 3. I could have used the emotional victory of seeing the President fearlessly strut out to the pitchers mound only weeks after our nation was attacked – and throw strike to the warm-up catcher. Having seen it on TV I decided I wasn’t missing game 4.
With the Yankess down 3-1 in the ninth Tino Martinez hit a two run homer to tie it. Shortly after in the ninth, the clock struck twelve and the group sitting over my shoulder flipped a sign down that said “Mr. November”. Up to the plate walks Derek Jeter to hit a walk off home run. I am not sure what time I got home from Stan’s that Wednesday night but I immediately cleared my schedule and began working on attending Game 5. To make a long story short, I’m sitting in roughly the same seats, the Yankees are down two zip bottom of nine – Kim comes back, Posada doubles, Brosius homers and we’re going to extra innings. I don’t think I will never experience such a thing as long as I live. At that point Alfonso Soriano’s game winning hit was beyond my comprehension. I probably thanked God, but George probably deserved it more.
To prove a point about the competitiveness of the decade and the randomness of baseball, the 2001 World Series was the last Fall Classic not to include a Wild Card team until 2008. The Yankees were absent from 2002 to 2008 aside from a loss to the Marlins in 2003, but the Boss’s squad, in the twilight of his life, captured on more title in 2009 to bookend the decade with championships. The Yankees are the first team in sports history ever to do so and it enabled George Steinbrenner to die the champion that he is. I’ll never forget the jumbo tron in the new Yankee Stadium during the clinching game in 2009 – “win it for THE BOSS.”
Everything from Independence Day, 1930 right up to July 13th, 2010 is the legacy of George Steinbrenner, and one his family can be proud of. His reputation within the communities that he lived and ran his businesses speaks volumes about the man that he was. After 14 years he was big enough to apologize to Yogi Berra for sending a lackey to fire him. Joe Torre was essentially run out of New York by Steinbrenner after affording the Yankees 12 playoff appearances in 12 years under his command. He still called George Steinbrenner on the fourth of July 2010 to say Happy Birthday to The Boss. In some bizarre plot twist – the straight shooting Boss cared about Doc Gooden and Darryl Strawberry while their lives were in ruin.
As far as George the competitor goes – I truly believe that he wanted to win for nobody but himself, and that’s what makes him a great American champion.
Thanks for all of it Boss. Being part of the Evil Empire was never, and will never be so much fun.
