Steinbrenner, iconic Yankees owner, dies

Steinbrenner, iconic Yankees owner, dies
'Boss' rebuilt franchise, embraced free agency, won seven titles

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

07/13/10 12:04 PM ET

George M. Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the New York Yankees since 1973, who returned the storied franchise to prominence both on and off the field and won seven World Series titles, died Tuesday. He was 80.

Steinbrenner suffered a massive heart attack at his home in Tampa, Fla. The Steinbrenner family confirmed his passing in a statement issued by the Yankees.

"He was an incredible and charitable man," the family said in the statement. "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."

Steinbrenner was the longest tenured owner in Major League Baseball. Through his purchase of a downtrodden Yankees franchise in 1973, Steinbrenner became one of the game's best-known personalities; a demanding type who earned the long-standing nickname, "The Boss."

His passing occurred nine months after the Yankees celebrated their 27th World Series title and first since 2000, a victory they dedicated to Steinbrenner. As the team hoisted the championship trophy over the infield at Yankee Stadium, they did so under a graphic that read, "This one's for you, Boss."

In New York, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that the flags would be lowered in City Hall Plaza to honor Steinbrenner's achievements.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the entire Steinbrenner family," Bloomberg said. "This is a sad day not only for Yankee fans, but for our entire city, as few people have had a bigger impact on New York over the past four decades than George Steinbrenner."

Steinbrenner's leadership style was perhaps best represented by a plaque he placed upon his desk at Yankee Stadium, which read: "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way." Steinbrenner led, and it was up to his employees to decide between their other two choices.

"George was The Boss, make no mistake," said Yankees Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. "He built the Yankees into champions and that's something nobody can ever deny. He was a very generous, caring, passionate man. George and I had our differences, but who didn't? We became great friends over the last decade and I will miss him very much."

Born on July 4, 1930, in Rocky River, Ohio, Steinbrenner grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Bay Village and established his connections to the sports world at an early age, as a multi-sport athlete at Culver Military Academy in Indiana and at Williams College, from which he graduated in 1952.

Steinbrenner served two years in the Air Force before launching a coaching career, first at Aquinas High School in Columbus, Ohio, before accepting football assistant coaching positions at two Big Ten schools: Northwestern in 1955 and Purdue in 1956.

Preceding his purchase of the Yankees at age 42, Steinbrenner had assumed control of the American Ship Building Company. He briefly owned the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball Association and flirted with acquiring both an NBA franchise and the Cleveland Indians baseball club before ultimately landing his treasured prize in the Bronx.

"Owning the Yankees," Steinbrenner once said, "is like owning the Mona Lisa."

On Jan. 3, 1973, a group headed by Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees from the CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting Company, for a net of $8.7 million, re-injecting funds -- and more important, hope -- into a franchise that had experienced a period of dormancy in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

At a press conference announcing the deal, Steinbrenner famously told reporters that he did not intend to be a hands-on owner, a statement that Steinbrenner himself would later laugh at.

"We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned," Steinbrenner said. "We're not going to pretend we're something we aren't. I'll stick to building ships."

Instead, Steinbrenner helped the Yankees build a dynasty through heavy utilization of the free-agent market. Though once critical of free agency, saying that it could "ruin baseball," Steinbrenner soon became one of its biggest proponents.

Pitcher Jim "Catfish" Hunter received a record-setting $3.35 million contract in 1974, and slugger Reggie Jackson netted a five-year, $3.5 million deal after the 1976 season.

"George Steinbrenner's passion for the game of baseball helped revive one of the game's most storied franchises, and in the process ushered in the modern era of baseball business operations." said Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association. "Mr. Steinbrenner understood and embraced the power of the players, and he put this knowledge to good use in establishing the Yankees as one of the sports world's most iconic brands."

Steinbrenner brokered deals with stars face-to-face, famously leading Jackson through the streets of New York during their courtship. It took Steinbrenner just five years to turn the Yankees into World Series champions once again.

Steinbrenner's ownership of the Yankees spanned seven championships, 11 American League pennants and two dynasties, one of which -- the team's run of two World Series victories and three appearances from 1977-1981 -- is remembered as the controversial "The Bronx Zoo" era.

In that time period, Steinbrenner became famous for his headline-grabbing statements and frequent changes of managers and general managers, all in relentless pursuit of a victorious Major League club.

"Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing," Steinbrenner once said. "Breathing first, winning second."

In his first 23 seasons, Steinbrenner switched managers 20 times -- including hiring and firing Billy Martin on five occasions -- and went through 11 general managers in 30 years. The payoff came in the form of back-to-back World Series titles over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977 and 1978, the Yankees' first consecutive titles since 1961 and 1962.

"They're going to have to look at him as one of the top owners in the history of sports," Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, who was signed as a free agent by Steinbrenner and played for the Yankees from 1981-90, said on ESPN. "They will. You just look at the record, where they came from, with the championships and stuff, they'll look at him as one of the most forceful, or the guy with the most impact in professional sports.

"There will be much said in between, but they'll say he was one of the top executives or owners in all of sports."

The Yankees also appeared in the 1981 World Series against Los Angeles, though the end result was unacceptable to Steinbrenner, who issued a public apology to the city of New York for the six-game defeat. The Yankees did not win a World Series championship throughout the 1980s, the first decade since the 1910s in which they failed to do so.

The Yankees' more recent dynasty of four World Series championships from 1996-2000 was constructed behind Steinbrenner's decidedly more hands-off approach. A blossoming farm system allowed the Yankees to reap the rewards of developing players like Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams to great success, while still adding free agents to round out talented rosters.

Steinbrenner's ownership of the Yankees was by far the longest of any owner in the storied franchise's history, exceeding the stewardship of Col. Jacob Ruppert, who purchased the club in 1915 and served as owner for 24 years until his death in January 1939.

Steinbrenner's reign endured its share of controversy, too. In 1974, Steinbrenner was suspended by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn for two years, 15 months after pleading guilty to a felony crime of making illegal contributions to Richard Nixon's presidential campaign. The suspension was later reduced to nine months.

In July 1990, Steinbrenner was handed a lifetime ban from baseball by Commissioner Fay Vincent for paying $40,000 to a gambler named Howie Spira in exchange for damaging information about outfielder Dave Winfield. Steinbrenner's ban was lifted by Vincent in March 1993, allowing Steinbrenner to resume his role as general partner of the club.

"I don't begrudge either Commissioner that suspended me," Steinbrenner told the Sporting News in 1998. "I have no ill feelings for either Bowie Kuhn or Fay Vincent. They did what they felt they had to do. I'm not saying that they were right, but they felt they had to do it and they did it. I put that behind me. I've moved on."

Steinbrenner was a brilliant capitalist, and changed the face of the Yankees again in 2002 with the formation of the YES Network, which created new revenue streams for the organization and swelled the value of the team past $1 billion.

In 2002, Steinbrenner was honored with the Gold Medal Award from the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for a lifetime of "outstanding commitment, dedication and dynamic leadership in both his business and personal lives." It is the highest and most prestigious award bestowed by the College Football Foundation.

Steinbrenner was also known for his support of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Steinbrenner served on the NCAA board of trustees, was chairman of the U.S.O.C. Foundation from 1997 through 2002 as well as the Olympic Overview Commission in 1988 and 1989, which was created to evaluate the structure and efforts of the United States Olympic program.

He also served as vice president of the U.S. Olympic Committee from 1989-96 and was honored with both the Gen. Douglas MacArthur USOC Foremost Award and the Dom Miller U.S. Olympic Award.

Many of Steinbrenner's philanthropic endeavors were performed without fanfare. However, he was repeatedly recognized by the communities in which he immersed himself. In March 2008, Steinbrenner tearfully attended the renaming of the Yankees' Spring Training facility to George M. Steinbrenner Field, following unanimous resolutions by the Tampa City Council and the Hillsborough County Commissioner's Office.

In fall 2009, George M. Steinbrenner High School was opened in Lutz, Fla. The school was named after Steinbrenner by the Hillsborough County School Board in recognition of his philanthropic involvement in the community, particularly with the school system.

"In the end," Steinbrenner was earlier quoted as saying, "I'll put my good acts up against anybody in this country. Anybody."

He had endured two public health scares in recent years, limiting his public commentary mostly to statements released through his longtime publicist, Howard Rubenstein, and passing on control of the team to his family. He once acknowledged his stepping down by saying, "It's time to let the young elephants into the tent."

Steinbrenner's final legacy was completed in 2009 with the opening of a dazzling new ballpark in the Bronx, in the first-class image that Steinbrenner had demanded the Yankees represent.

Steinbrenner's last appearance at Yankee Stadium was on Opening Day of this season, when manager Joe Girardi and shortstop Derek Jeter ventured up to the owner's suite and presented Steinbrenner with his 2009 World Series ring.

"The Stadium wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him," Jeter said then. "None of us would be here. To get the opportunity to present him with the ring was probably the thing I'll take most out of today."

The "House that Ruth Built" may have been the Stadium that Steinbrenner called his office, but the one that the Yankees will occupy for the foreseeable future is, clearly, 'The House that George Built.'

He is survived by his wife, Joan; sisters Susan Norpell and Judy Kamm, children, Hank, Hal, Jennifer and Jessica; and his grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements will be private, the family said. There will be an additional public service with details to be announced at a later date.

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.