I never liked George Steinbrenner. As a fan of a different team in the AL East, it was virtually impossible to like the man who helped keep every other team in that division out of the playoffs.
I also could never hate him. If anything, I was jealous. Who wouldn’t want all those championships sitting in a case in their stadium?
No, there was only one true feeling I had for “The Boss”:
Respect.
Many people constantly say how the Yankees “buy” their rings. But you can take a look throughout sports and see just how tough that really is to do. Many other teams have tried to buy championships and failed miserably. Of course lots and lots of money doesn’t hurt.
Sure, even early on he signed Reggie Jackson and Dave Winfield, but the Yankees were baseball’s big spenders even before Steinbrenner was around.
No, Steinbrenner was known for winning.
Steinbrenner was obsessed with winning.
This obsession would lead him to many fines and suspensions and indirectly lead to better player development. That player development would lead to Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada.
The player development would lead the way to the makings of the “Evil Empire” we know today. Yes, the Yankees “supplemented” that development with a heavily star studded cast.
But no team has been better at turning their green into gold.
Love him or hate him, Steinbrenner was a winner.
Steinbrenner gave his team everything he had.
What fan wouldn’t have wanted an owner like him?
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