I MUST SAY, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, I FIND IT VERY HARD TO SEE THE LOGIC BEHIND SOME OF THE MOVES YOU HAVE MADE WITH THIS FINE ORGANIZATION. IN THE PAST TWENTY YEARS, YOU HAVE CAUSED MYSELF, AND THE CITY OF NEW YORK, A GOOD DEAL OF DISTRESS AS WE HAVE WATCHED YOU TAKE OUR BELOVED YANKEES AND REDUCED THEM TO A LAUGHING STOCK, ALL FOR THE GLORIFICATION OF YOUR MASSIVE EGO: Of course, the Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza confronted George Steinbrenner aired in May 1994, two years before Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez and Jeffrey Maier led the Yankees to their first of five championships in a fourteen-season span.
I cannot write honestly about the passing of George Steinbrenner today and claim to have admired or respected the man. Yes, ownership entitles one to do with one's property more or less as one pleases, and it was not Steinbrenner who alone controlled what revenue sharing and other parity-enhancing tools Major League Baseball would employ. But cultural institutions like the New York Yankees are public trusts, and his meddlesomeness -- the five firings of Billy Martin, the Dave Winfield-Howie Spira skullduggery, the facial hair thing and the like -- degraded what should have remained baseball's crown jewel. Steinbrenner's Yankees were at his best after he put Joe Torre and Brian Cashman in place and stayed out of their way.
This has been a sad week for Yankees fans, between the passing of Bob Sheppard this weekend and now Steinbrenner's today. Out of respect, I'll say no more right now.
Steinbrenner was a dick, but a dick who cared authentically about winning. Contrast with the ownership of certain other major professional sports franchises in NYC, which manage to both be dicks and seemingly not give even the vaguest damn about winning.
ReplyDeleteVisionary, convicted felon, notorious bully and champion. He certainly made hating the Yankees, and baseball in general, a lot more fun.
ReplyDeleteI will never get behind the idea that certain institutions -- by which I suspect you mean the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs -- are public trusts. The fact that they have longer and sometimes more vivid histories does not merit them special treatment, and it does not anoint their fans with some kind of superfandom either. Steinbrenner had no greater responsibility to maintain the dignity of baseball than did Marge Schott or than does Jeffrey Loria. His job was to build the team in a way that enriched him, literally or metaphorically, and in the long run, it did.
ReplyDeleteMuch more limited than that: the Yankees and Cardinals, really. The only obligations for the Cubs and Red Sox is to not mess up the ballpark. It doesn't imbue the fans with superfandom -- I'm just saying that there's a particular need for those teams to be well-run and classy.
ReplyDeleteMarge Schott is the perfect example -- along with Mr. Rose -- as to how a franchise's century-long legacy can be irrevocably tarnished in the wrong hands.
As a Yankee fan, I find Shepphard's passing much sadder. A classy guy, all around.
ReplyDeleteSteinbrenner, on the other hand, had a few moments, but overall? Meh. He definitely knew how to win championships, but he was almost too obsessed with it and the micromanaging was completely out of control at certain points. Add to that the way he treated Yogi and Torre when they left and ugh. I can't say I'm overwhelmed with sadness as a fan. Really just curious/a little concerned about what happens next for the team - does his family retain ownership?
http://www.youtube.com/v/cUwSxqnRW-8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="170" height="140
ReplyDeleteI'd say the Cubs have a responsibility to mess up the ballpark, but that's due to Wrigley being an outdated, uncomfortable place to watch a ballgame. But they have just as much storied history as the Yankees and White Sox and if any teams can be considered to be a public trust (which I don't go along with as well), the Cubs are in that group (OK, fine, most of it is only through the end of WWII).
ReplyDeleteI think "classy" in regards to sports teams is mostly just a gloss that comes with success, a gloss that was easier to apply in the days when journalists drank with players and owners and all sides had incentive to spin out a tale that aggrandized the sport and its participants. Of course, as a Phillies fan I would say that so I can chalk up the lack of "class" associated with the team to their historic lack of success.
ReplyDeleteSteinbrenner may have been classless, and acted in many classless ways, but to the extent he was perceived as sullying the team, I think that's as much due to his presiding over the team's most sustained championship drought since they first won than it is to his actual behavior.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8FUgN4xYoc
ReplyDeleteNot really on point, but: This morning, on the way to work, I saw a minivan (with Virginia plates) sporting stickers/magnets for both the Yankees and the Red Sox. And you thought your family had issues.
ReplyDeleteI am confused why the facial hair thing is included in the examples of Steinbrenner's non-classy ownership. Wasn't the point of banning facial hair and requiring short haircuts about keeping the Yankees classy even at the risk of alienating Donnie Baseball and his legion of fans?
ReplyDeleteAlso, just based on the whole "things happen in 3s" deal, how nervous do you think Don Zimmer is right about now?
ReplyDeleteWe do; I'm the product of a mixed marriage, a Cubs fan mother and Sox father.
ReplyDeleteShoulda been you, Angelos.
ReplyDeleteNo post about Harvey Pekar?
ReplyDeleteI just had an argument last week with somebody about whether Steinbrenner was alive or dead.
ReplyDeleteAnd trim those sideburns!
ReplyDeleteYeah, re: Pekar, Cleveland has had a much worse week, I'd contend, than Yankees fans. The Decision, followed by the death of Mel Turpin, followed by the death of Pekar.
ReplyDeleteThis is my favorite take on Steinbrenner and his passing that I've read:
ReplyDeletehttp://tomatonation.com/baseball/squared-up-not-the-same-as-the-old-boss/
As I said on FB, RIP to the Lord Voldemort of baseball.
ReplyDeleteIt already has been a bad week for Cleveland sports, but here's one more item to note. According to The New York Times obit on Steinbrenner, he bought the Yankees only after his attempt to purchase the Indians failed. Say what you want about Steinbrenner, but I have to believe the Indians would have won at least one World Series - probably more - if Steinbrenner's purchase had gone through. I gotta think he would have kept on spending and firing until they were championship contenders.
ReplyDeleteJoseph - same combination for me. Luckily we lived on the west side.
ReplyDeleteSpending what? He had the money in NYC because of the tv contracts the market allowed.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I don't think there's anything wrong with the short hair and ban on facial hair. Although I'd have included the mustache in that ban.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Atlanta and other SEC/ACC strongholds, you'll see "House Divided" bumper stickers and license plate holders featuring a pair of traditional rivals (eg, Georgia & Georgia Tech; Auburn & Alabama; Florida & Tennessee).
ReplyDeleteJenn., I attended an Alabama-Georgia game at Georgia when I was in school, which, due to the teams being in different SEC divisions doesn't happen that often (as I'm sure you know). During the tailgate, I saw a car that had something like this on the windows, "Son #1 UGA. Son #2 Bama. Roll Dawgs??" Loved it.
ReplyDeleteor Andy Pettite.
ReplyDeleteWait, what? Owner buys baseball team at its nadir, owns the team for over 30 years, and then dies while the team is in midst of a more than decade-long reign as the most consistently winning team in the game. The team is valued at more than twice the value of any other baseball team, consistently draw more fans to visiting ballparks than those parks ever pull otherwise, and are almost certainly the most recognized team in american sports, both domestically and abroad.
ReplyDeleteWhen did the degradation happen exactly? Your claim that Steinbrenner degraded the Yankees sounds like cheap contrarian garbage.
Adam:
ReplyDeleteSurprised that I haven't seen a post titled "What about the music? Oh yeah...the music was fu$king brilliant, and that Madonna, she sure can move.."
Obviously not about Steinbrenner's passing.
--bd
25 years. Shit.
ReplyDeleteDidn't have a chance this morning. I might tonight.
ReplyDeleteConsidering how much he spent on all his pursuits (philanthropic, athletic and otherwise), I have little doubt he would have spent quite a bit even as the Indians owner. Maybe he wouldn't have spent as much as he did in New York, but I bet Cleveland's payroll always would have ranked in the top 10.
ReplyDeleteI happen to agree with you, guest (on the basic point, not the part about cheap and garbage), but if you're not just a drive-by commenter and you're going to get snippy, please put your handle below your complaint.
ReplyDeleteWish Jerry Jones would get the message and let real football people run the Cowboys.
ReplyDeleteHeard on the radio this morning that when Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees, CBS took a $4 million loss?!
Your beef is that he's a Williams man, ain't it?
ReplyDeleteI have nothing to say about Steinbrenner without speaking ill of the dead, so I will stick with a "Woo-hoo! Brian McCann!" and exit the thread.
ReplyDeleteHey, this Phillies fan will even throw a "Woo-hoo! Brian McCann!" out there for last night's heroics. (Because it gives the Phillies home field in the World Series, of course. Thanks, Brian!)
ReplyDelete<span>"(Because it gives the <span>Phillies</span> Braves home field in the World Series, of course. Thanks, Brian!)"
ReplyDelete</span>
Fixed that for you. :-)
Why would Pettite be nervous? He isn't old or unhealthy.
ReplyDelete