Bloops: Steinbrenner’s Comeuppance
Posted by Neil Paine on November 15, 2010
Here's a fun story from Mary Jane Schriner about perhaps the first time George Steinbrenner learned the hard way that the biggest, fastest, most expensive vehicle doesn't always win the race.
If you recall, Ms. Schriner is the woman who knew Steinbrenner as a teenager in Ohio, and spent a good deal of time with him growing up. Interesting that even then, Steinbrenner apparently displayed the competitiveness and hubris that would come to define his tenure as the Yankees' owner.
November 15th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
The overreaction to his death and shoving him onto the HOF ballot is making him baseball's version of Michael Jackson. Except with a lot less talent and money.
November 15th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
That is just plain funny!
November 16th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Yeah, well, at least George wasn't a pedophile, at least as far as I know. But putting him on the HOF ballot now is absurd.
November 16th, 2010 at 11:13 am
It's not surprising he had hubris and competitiveness then. He probably wouldn't have gotten to where he did in the manner he did without it then.
November 16th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
What's kinda funny to me is, at least in terms of World Series championships, George isn't even that successful as a Yankees owner. 7 WS wins in 37 years? Big whoop, in the 40 years prior to his ownership, they had won 20 WS.
Yeah, I guess he 'saved' them from the CBS ownership, but they took over when the amateur draft started and sold the team prior to free agency, so they couldn't use the tried and true "buy every good player possible" strategy the Yankees are known for.
November 16th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
That he's even being considered for the Hall of Fame is absurd.
November 17th, 2010 at 3:57 am
The Boss should have been in the Hall along time ago, the only absurd thing is that they waited until after he died to nominate him. Every blindly blames the yanks for player salary. but over the last 15yrs or so when salaries have gotten really insane, it was never the yanks leading the pack. the yanks payroll is huge, granted but not b/c of the yanks setting the standard. it was texas giving arod 25mil per when no1 else offered even 20 per, the mets set the standard by giving steve traschel 10mil per to a number 4 sp, balt blew up th middle relievrs 4mil x 4yrs hen no1 else came cloae to that. even w/ CC, the mets gave santana the same contract the previous yr an santana never hit the open market... yanks do buy every1 they want and their team salary is huge b/c they buy multiple talanted players but very rarely set the standard for raising player salary.
Aside from all that, every fan should want a george as their owner, some billionaire who isnt about the bottom line and does his best to give u a winner every yr. some1 who's inivated in bringing in 1st a cable contract w/ ms then making his own network who at the time every1 thought was a huge mistake, instead it became the blueprint for every other sports franchise to follow. he was he 1st to get big radio contracts, team advertising right, 1st to go to asia, 1st to build team camps in south america, always gave his players the best transpotation and locker rooms, all 1st class to make players wanna play here.... huge on advertising and celebrating the teams history.... and yea u can say its all ny and i wont deny it but keep in mind the dodgers and ny giants couldnt make it in ny and they were here b4 the yanks, in the 80's the mes owned ny and yanks were 2nd fiddle, the mets drew bigger crowds, sold more gear and had bigger tv and radio income.... then the yanks not only caught up w/ the mets while the met were growing 10fold but blew right by em and are worth double the mets now. and sorry but its alot worse for owners to not only dump players and not pay em but also pocket te money george has to give em rather then improve thier team w/ it. just go look at the marlins deadspin article.... they cry poverty every yr , then their books got leaked and it turns out they avg a 50mil profit every yr, take in 100 mil from tv, mlb and rev sharing b4 they sell 1 ticket but only have a 25mil payroll... but george is the bad guy..... bullshit.... not only should he be in the hall, he should of gotten slig job bak in the day b/c selig was no better then loria in fla... ran his team the same way
November 17th, 2010 at 4:00 am
even though i am a yankee fan i missed the memo on when steinbrenner went from being "spinegrabber" to the beloved owner he has become known as in recent years.
November 17th, 2010 at 9:28 am
say what you will for the Boss pro or con ... he loved the game ... he loved winning ... and he loved the yankees. also: money. plus: himself. and he acted on all those character traits to give the Bronx the best team possible year in, year out. he transcends game and HOF. + he had a fairly good sense of humor about himself by all accounts. there are many owners. 4vr only 1 boss. RIP
November 17th, 2010 at 11:06 am
convicted felon
November 17th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
"...the best team possible year in, year out." The Yankees were good to great after his (2nd) suspension, when he hired good people and let them run the team. When he was "The Boss" they did win 2 WS among 4 AL pennants. You cannot find a period as long in post 1920 Yankee history in which they had less success. The Boss had the richest team around, with money of own to spend, and had the longest streaks without postseason appearences or WS championships since before they got Babe Ruth. The best thing he did to help the team was to stay away. And he was forced to do that by his (2nd) suspension. He certainly loved winning and he certainly loved money, but I am not so sure about his love of baseball as a game seperate from his loves of winning and money. There are many who deserve to be in the HOF before him, even if we restrict it to non-players. Starting with Marvin Miller, who did far more to change the game than G.S.