Thank you George...you will be missed

zybar · « **on:** 14 Jul 2010, 12:44 am »

While George "The Boss" Steinbrenner had some crazy and embarrassing moments throughout the past 38 years as the owner of the New York Yankees - including being suspended multiple times, hiring and firing Billy Martin 5 times, and trading away more All-Stars than I care to remember, what is undeniable is his impact on Major League Baseball. George truly changed the way the game is played on and off the field.

George's passion and thirst for winning produced the highest winning percentage, most divisional titles, pennants, and World Series victories since 1973 of any franchise in baseball.

As a lifelong Yankees fan (only knowing George as our owner), I want to thank him for all he did. Hopefully, he will be enshrined in Cooperstown some day.

George

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #1 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 01:12 am »

There's the guy Clevelanders should really be pissed at - not LeBron!

RIP, Mr. Steinbrenner - clearly the masses will not and cannot forget you.

John

satfrat · « **Reply #2 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 01:46 am »

Georgie Porgie was the best thing that ever happened to us Red Sox fans. For me personally, George revived my long seeded dispise for the ny franchise. He will always be remembered and sincerely appreciated by me for refueling the Red Sox/yankee rivalry.

RIP George.

Cheers,
Robin

richidoo · « **Reply #3 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 02:52 am »

Watching All stars tonight, with Girardi talking about Steinbrenner got me thinking about some of the great Americans who would be missed if they died. He was a big one. RIP

Construct · « **Reply #4 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 04:10 am »

Quote from: satfrat on 14 Jul 2010, 01:46 am

Georgie Porgie was the best thing that ever happened to us Red Sox fans. For me personally, George revived my long seeded dispise for the ny franchise. He will always be remembered and sincerely appreciated by me for refueling the Red Sox/yankee rivalry.

RIP George.

Cheers,
Robin

I am glad you see through the fog and friction of war on this. As a Boston fan, I see very few others that realize that there can be no greatness, unless tested by greatness. The reason the rivalry was so great is because BOTH team elevated each other every time like Ali vs Frazier. Blowout games are never any good, and if it weren't for Yankee excellence, Boston excellence would never be known.
Thank you George for all the great contests between great teams!
R.I.P.

jackman · « **Reply #5 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 01:36 pm »

I'm not sure George's big spending style would have worked anywhere but NYC. Lucky for him, and for Yankee fans, that's where he chose to set up shop. I'm not going to debate if George was good for baseball but he was great for NY Yankee fans and the team. He understood the tradition of Yankee baseball and their position in history of the game and wanted to win more than anyone who has ever owned a professional baseball team.

As a guy who comes from a town with a history of bad pro sports ownership (McCaskey family, Wrigley Co., Tribune Co., Wirtz family before Rocky, etc.), I can only admire an owner who wanted to win at all costs. And he won more than anyone in the game.

Cheers to a real winner and a Yankee as true as Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle, and DiMaggio.

macrojack · « **Reply #6 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 02:36 pm »

I won't miss him --- or Donald Trump or any number of other Leona Helmsly types. Arrogant, insensitive, wealthy bullies are entirely too numerous in our country. It's time we came to our senses and stop worshipping the rich just because they are rich.

arthurs · « **Reply #7 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 02:39 pm »

Tom, you're just being a contrarian now....the guy is dead, some here found he had some positive qualities and shared a passion with them....let them have their say....come on buddy, there's no point to be made here among the mourning....

ken · « **Reply #8 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 02:45 pm »

He did everything he could to put a winning team on the field (at least in his estimation) with a cost no object approach and as a fan that's all you could ask for. As a Met fan I did enjoy George's follies immensely, particularly in the 80's. I'd like to hear what Dave Winfield has to say.

macrojack · « **Reply #9 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 02:52 pm »

Sorry Arthur, I wouldn't say that at his funeral or, for that matter, attend his funeral, but I thought this was a discussion column, not a memorial service.
Let me respectfully contend that his kind do far more harm than good to our society by the example they set and the difficulty they inflict. Admittedly I'm looking at a larger picture but people who make themselves extremely prominent cannot expect to be overlooked in their shortcomings. His far outweighed any benefits he conferred. This is another case where we are gulping whole mouthfuls of media generated, sugar-coated confetti and pretending it has personal meaning. Did anyone here ever meet George Steinbrenner? By all accounts, he would have pushed you aside as he hurried off to meet with somebody who could do him some good. Like Leona, he had no time for the "little people" like you and me. Seinfeld was actually pretty good-natured in their protracted send-up of the dictator.

rollo · « **Reply #10 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 03:45 pm »

As a Yankee fan he will be missed. George was brash, rude and insenstive at times like all of us. However his charity, donations and Patriotism out weighed the rest. God rest his soul. May he rest in peace.

charles

arthurs · « **Reply #11 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 05:33 pm »

Quote from: macrojack on 14 Jul 2010, 02:52 pm

Sorry Arthur, I wouldn't say that at his funeral or, for that matter, attend his funeral, but I thought this was a discussion column, not a memorial service.
Let me respectfully contend that his kind do far more harm than good to our society by the example they set and the difficulty they inflict. Admittedly I'm looking at a larger picture but people who make themselves extremely prominent cannot expect to be overlooked in their shortcomings. His far outweighed any benefits he conferred. This is another case where we are gulping whole mouthfuls of media generated, sugar-coated confetti and pretending it has personal meaning. Did anyone here ever meet George Steinbrenner? By all accounts, he would have pushed you aside as he hurried off to meet with somebody who could do him some good. Like Leona, he had no time for the "little people" like you and me. Seinfeld was actually pretty good-natured in their protracted send-up of the dictator.

No worries Tom, we hadn't run into the boards together in awhile so I thought I'd throw you a friendly hip check on this one!

I don't disagree with anything you've said, I just saw this as more of a thread where people were posting more positively about the loss of someone they felt had done some good in certain areas, check the title to the thread for tone...and whether I agree or not, thought the best path may be to respect their space to do so...we can always have another thread to debate the quality of his contributions...

jackman · « **Reply #12 on:** 14 Jul 2010, 06:42 pm »

Quote from: macrojack on 14 Jul 2010, 02:52 pm

Sorry Arthur, I wouldn't say that at his funeral or, for that matter, attend his funeral, but I thought this was a discussion column, not a memorial service.
Let me respectfully contend that his kind do far more harm than good to our society by the example they set and the difficulty they inflict. Admittedly I'm looking at a larger picture but people who make themselves extremely prominent cannot expect to be overlooked in their shortcomings. His far outweighed any benefits he conferred. This is another case where we are gulping whole mouthfuls of media generated, sugar-coated confetti and pretending it has personal meaning. Did anyone here ever meet George Steinbrenner? By all accounts, he would have pushed you aside as he hurried off to meet with somebody who could do him some good. Like Leona, he had no time for the "little people" like you and me. Seinfeld was actually pretty good-natured in their protracted send-up of the dictator.

I agree the media lays it on thick whenever someone famous dies and this is no exception. As an owner, NY Yankee fans could not have asked for a better guy than George Steinbrenner. NYC is a demanding town with the most demanding fans in all of sports. They love a winner and Steinbrenner's Yankees delivered more than any team in MLB. He made no attempt to be a "little guy" because he wasn't. George didn't seem to have any fear to show himself for what he was, a titan who lived to put the best players in the world in a Yankee uniform and win World Series titles. If that is the standard, he did a pretty darn good job (and I'm not a Yankee fan).

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Jul 2010, 12:35 am »

I'm a lifelong Yankee fan, so I guess I'm a bit biased. I know several people who either work or have worked for Steinbrenner. A family friend was his secretary during "Bronx Zoo" years. I've never met Steinbrenner.

They all say he was the kind of guy that either loved you and would give you the shirt off his back, or wouldn't give you the time of day. It all depended on whether or not he respected you. It wasn't a 'what can you do for me' situation, it was a 'is this person going to do what it takes to make the franchise better' thing. There was no tolerance for dead weight or second guessing. A good friend was a doctor with Bobby Knight's Indiana basketball team. Both guys were/are very similar. It seems like a me me me approach, but it's a team team team approach. There's one goal in mind, excellence.

Steinbrenner spent a ton of money, which is a huge criticism. Criticizing that is jealousy IMO. How is it a bad thing for a guy to put money into his team rather than pocket it? Too many owners are more concerned with profits than with investing in their players and staff.

Steinbrenner didn't just pay his players well, he paid the staff equally well, relatively speaking. Yankee employees get player bonuses. The club house guys split a player's bonus when they make the playoffs, as do the strength coaches, athletic trainers, etc. When everyone has this incentive, it's amazing the dedication they have to what they're doing.

I know people in other MLB organizations. No where near the base salary of the Yankees, no bonuses, and far less staff members.

Steinbrenner wasnt what I'd consider to be a likable guy from a personality point of view. He was definitely respectable guy. He did a lot of philanthropy and genuinely took care of people that did good in his eyes.

The stories I've heard about is idiosyncracies and eccentricity are lengendary. Especially back in the 'Bronx Zoo' days. Not that I'm saying they guy was a genius like Einstein was, but most 'genius types' are not very likable people.

ted_b · « **Reply #14 on:** 15 Jul 2010, 01:41 am »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 14 Jul 2010, 01:12 am

There's the guy Clevelanders should really be pissed at - not LeBron!

RIP, Mr. Steinbrenner - clearly the masses will not and cannot forget you.

John

I'm a Clevelander and not pissed at him at all. On the contrary; before his fame George was the owner of the Cleveland Pipers ABA franchise in Cleveland back in the 60's and was instrumental in signing Jerry Lucas straight out of Ohio State. We look at George as one of our own; his father was principal in local Lorain Shipbuilding, and the Steinbrenners did a lot of charity work around NE Ohio...back in the day. My dad used to take me to Piper games, and their popularity helped bring the NBA to Cleveland, first for a few games a year (saw Knicks beat Oscar's Cincy Royals to win their 19th straight) before we got the Cavs franchise.

Yes, his Yankees broke our hearts several times, but hell, we need to get in line for that honor. His Yankees would recycle Tribe greats too (Nettles, Gamble, Sabathia, etc). RIP George.

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #15 on:** 15 Jul 2010, 02:24 am »

I went to college down the road from Williams College, where Steinbrenner went.

Rumor had it that Steinbrenner donated a ton of money to build the sports/rec building on campus. The college named it after someone else, and Big Stein flipped out. He vowed never to give them a dime again.

That's what I was told by several Williams students anyway. The way colleges run things, I wouldn't doubt it at all. And yes, I've worked for several colleges.

JerryM · « **Reply #16 on:** 15 Jul 2010, 03:37 am »

I'm guessing he's already fired Billy Martin.

RIP, George. Thanks for all the great rivalries through the years.

Respectfully,
Jerry

twitch54 · « **Reply #17 on:** 16 Jul 2010, 12:50 am »

Quote from: JerryM on 15 Jul 2010, 03:37 am

I'm guessing he's already fired Billy Martin.

Excellent !!!!! .............

arthurs · « **Reply #18 on:** 16 Jul 2010, 02:23 am »

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/07/15/2010-07-15_woman_reveals_lifelong_secret_that_yankee_owner_george_steinbrenner_donated_13k_.html#ixzz0tkmkjK7N

macrojack · « **Reply #19 on:** 16 Jul 2010, 02:33 am »

Looks like I better retract my earlier comments. George apparently was a much better person than Helmsly or Trump. He'd have to have a soft side to hire Costanza. And the lady on Long Island -- that is a touching story.