Every school has that small grouping of kids that could get anything they wanted. They would get the latest video games, the latest technology, and in high school would get the newest car and would drive around before any of us. We all know that kid, and we all envy that kid. Showing up to school in the nicest clothes, showing up with the nicest-looking projects because of the extra money, and just walking around, leaving a trail of used money. Damn that kid. Well, the baseball version of that kid has left this Earth today. George Michael Steinbrenner has died this morning, leaving a major dent in the zany crazy world of baseball. Now, I compare him to the rich kid because although he is hated, we all deep down strive to be exactly like him---or at least be his friend.
Did he spend a lot of money to build championship teams? Of course he did, but guess what, he isn’t the only guilty one. The reason the target is on him is because he owned the team that represents the world of baseball, and because he actually wins. The Cubs, Mariners, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Dodgers are examples of teams that spend a heavy portion of money on a yearly basis. Steinbrenner was a tough owner, a tough cookie, but a man that was driven to win, driven to succeed every single year. I admired that about him, he loves to win, and does not simply own a team to take home the profits (See: Pittsburgh Pirates, Florida Marlins, Devil Rays prior to 2007). We all didn’t like George mainly because he didn’t own our baseball club; he wasn’t spending money on our baseball team. He doesn’t just purchase players; he carefully calculated each and every single move. Its one thing to spend millions, it’s another thing to spend millions and figure out how to build a winning ballclub. Somebody call the Cubs and ask them how their team is doing.
Let’s not forget either, Steinbrenner lost for a very long time before finally building the Yankees into the empire that it is today. He wasn’t just an owner that truly cared, he was a great businessman. He transformed a fallen franchise into a powerhouse team in three different decades; the 70s, the 90s, and the 2000s. The Yankees is now one of the most recognized sports teams in the entire planet. Major League Baseball was taken to new financial and successful heights partially because of him. There are very few owners in all of sports that spent so much time with his team.
Bottom Line: I want to be like George Steinbrenner, minus the controversy and sometimes-irrational decisions. I’m sure most baseball fans would love an owner like him, even if they won’t admit it. I personally would love to own a baseball club and transform it into a worldwide –known sports icon; that would be an irrational dream of mine. I love the sport of baseball, and I deeply respect those that share this same sort of love---and George Steinbrenner being one of them.
We should remember him not as a grumpy man that fired people constantly “like a bodily function” (George Costanza from Seinfeld), but as a man who loved his team, love his city of New York, and helped his community a lot—in Tampa and New York City.
R.I.P. George, you will be missed.
P.S. Pointless Trivia:
George Steinbrenner has been able to grow the Yankees from a $10 million franchise to a $1.2 billion heavyweight. In 2005, the Yankees became the first professional sports franchise to be conservatively estimated as being worth over one billion dollars.
Source: Wikipedia
P.P.S.
This needs to be added. The best of "George Steinbrenner" on Seinfeld.
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